Stowe Templars 27 April 2025

Manager Colin Allen

Won by 4 Wickets

Stowe Templars  292 for 4 (50 overs)

SOA 295 for 6 (Ed Phillips 152*, Swapnil Kulkarni 75, Liam Evans 26)

SOA's first match of the season arrived, after huge number of changes to the original team, but it was still a strong SOA team that turned up at Stowe School following the President's promise of good cricket and an even better lunch and tea.

After choosing to bat first, Templars came out strongly and scored quickly in this 50 overs per side match. Unfortunately, on the rare occasion they needed to run, a batter twisted a knee while turning for a second. A 40-minute delay allowed SOA to regroup, but the hosts still reached a formidable 292-4.

This seemed a very stiff target, but then SOA had reckoned without a spectacular innings from the previous year's President. Ed Phillips dominated the reply with a spectacular 152 not out from just 155 balls, with 20 fours. He reached his century off 124 balls. Thanks to excellent support from Swapnil Kulkarni (75) and Liam Evans, SOA squeezed home with four balls and four wickets to spare.

However, the lunch and tea did not meet the President's high expectations. This took us back to the age of nouveaux cuisine - very pretty, very tasty and tres petite!!