Ottery St Mary Cricket Club Under-11s got their season underway on Sunday in what was to prove to be a dramatic match played away at Sandford.

Skipper Ted Benson won the toss and put Sandford into bat. The Ottery bowlers soon had the batsmen in all kinds of difficulties with excellent bowling performances from Alex and Ollie Glanville who took two wickets each. Debutant Ollie Olliffe also took a well deserved wicket as Sandford struggled to make runs. Jake Swait was outstanding at wicket-keeper making some fine stops and taking an excellent catch. Ottery restricted Sandford to 107 from their 20 overs.

Ottery steadied themselves after losing an early wicket with Ed Allen going for a single. Ted Benson played a skipper’s role and scored a solid 22 before clipping his own wicket with a trademark sweep shot.

Ottery however, had fallen behind on the run rate on a pitch where runs were difficult to achieve. Ben Thomas on his debut backed up impressively with some powerful shots and swift running between the wickets to put Ottery back in contention. However there was still plenty to do as Ottery chased the Sandford score.

With three overs to go Ottery were staring into the jaws of defeat having been unable to score runs on a difficult pitch.

Lewis Morgan and Jason Ferguson were determined not to be beaten and snatched every run available as they whittled away at the Sandford score. In an incredibly tight finish it all came down to the final ball of the match. Needing two runs to secure what had appeared to be an unlikely draw only a short while before on the final ball Ferguson hit a perfect drive which was well fielded. Having made a single the pair set off at a sprint and with a final dive into the crease secured a draw.

This was an excellent team performance and the whole team showed great spirit against a strong Sandford side. The team next face Exeter but on this performance Ottery should have every confidence that this will be a good season for a developing side.