A group of under-11s have been spending their Sunday afternoons at Bingham Leisure Centre competing in a six-a-side tournament against eight other teams representing some other prestigious local clubs. Despite coming into the tournament as underdogs, Bingham more than held their own, winning six of their eight games and not being outclassed in their defeats. They finished the regular season in second place and qualified for finals day without relying on results elsewhere. This was the highest a Bingham team has ever placed in this tournament.

All this set up a semi-final against Radcliffe on Trent, the defending champions, but who only qualified for finals day thanks to a late surge that saw them win their final three games to sneak in on net run rate; this left Calverton on the outside looking in, but they could at least have the comfort of being the only side to defeat table-toppers West Bridgfordians Reds.

Bingham won the toss and chose to bat. After a slow start, Jamie Williams and Veer Saxena reached the mandatory retirement score of 25 with ease. The highest scoring play of the innings saw Flynn Hufford and Ben Taylor run an eight, courtesy of some generous fielding and the esoteric scoring rules of the competition. Bingham ended their innings on 81-2.

The unpredictability of the tournament meant that a winner was hard to predict. Bingham had successfully defended smaller totals in previous games, but Radcliffe would not consider the target of 82 impossible. They made a steady start, reaching 33 before losing their first wicket at the end of the third over, and were 42-1 after the fourth. The fifth over saw them grab the momentum, scoring 20 runs and putting Bingham's bowlers under pressure. A tight sixth over, from Nathan Wijayaratna, went for just nine and left Radcliffe needing eight from the final over. Peter Williams made the perfect start, trapping a batter LBW. The next ball went for three and was followed by two dots. Another three of the fifth ball took Radcliffe to 80: one ball left, two to win. There was a huge LBW shout as the ball struck the batter on the pad, but was adjudged to be going down the leg side. The batters were able to complete a run as the ball hit the wall, taking them past the target.

Final score: Bingham 81-2 (7 overs), Radcliffe on Trent 83-2 (7 overs), Radcliffe on Trent win by 4 wickets

It’s always disappointing to lose a semi-final and it’s always disappointing to lose on the final ball. However, these should take nothing away from the stellar performances that took Bingham to the semi-final, and the resilience they showed to keep themselves in a high-pressure match right to the very end. All our young cricketers should be very proud of how they played, and take great confidence from the experience into the upcoming outdoor season.

Under-11s squad: N Wijayaratna (captain), I Edwardson, F Hufford (wk), H Jacques-Rankin, T Lamley, V Saxena, B Taylor, J Williams, P Williams