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May Day look for discipline in Headley Cup’s final run chase
April 12, 2024
Oral Simpson, head coach of May Day, hopes his players show discipline as they search for another 224 runs, with seven wickets remaining, to win the ISSA/GK Insurance Headley Cup final against hosts Manchester on Friday.
"We're still in with a chance as we have 90 overs to get 200 plus runs. We must bat discipline because that's lacking in our batting from the first innings. Javed showed how we plan on batting throughout this final, and if we continue in that vein there's no doubt, we can get it. This is a final and we're not going to give up until the last ball is bowled," Simpson stated.
On Thursday's second day, May Day failed to add to their overnight score of 118 and gave opponents Manchester a first innings lead of 101 runs.
In their second innings, Manchester were bundled out for 189 as opener Matthew Morgan top scored with 55, while teammates Pajay Nelson and Brian Barnes added 36 and 24, respectively.
May Day's Christopher Lewis, with three wickets for 19 runs, was the pick of the bowlers, while he was assisted by Nashane Meade and Mark Barrett, who collected three for 76 and two for 12, respectively.
Chasing a target of 290, May Day reached the close of play on 66 for three with Javed Williams on 29 and Nashane Meade on 10, requiring a further 224 runs on Friday's final day.
Barry Barnes, head coach of Manchester, stated that while he would have wanted more runs the target set is a challenging one for May Day to reach.
"I'm disappointed as we wanted another wicket before the close of play, but they gave it their best shot and the game is still open because these are schoolboys, so I'm not calling it yet. In our discussions, we said 350 to 400 runs with the type of batters that we have, but I think the score is a challenging total and I expect us to do well," Barnes stated.
