Sentence:  ... the batsmen were running and stretching bats, and the ball flying away, flying back, and others after it, and still the batsmen running, till it seemed that the ball had escaped control and was leading the fielders on a <WSD>coltish</WSD> innings of its own, defiant of bowlers. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Lively, playful and undisciplined (often in a manner judged to be immature).<ref>B.(nbsp)E., "A New Dictionary of the Canting Crew," London: W. Hawes "et al.," 1699: “Coltish, said when an old Fellow is frolicksom or wanton; or he has a Colt's Tooth.”[http://name.umdl.umich.edu/A39127.0001.001]</ref>