After our victory over Hampshire the previous weekend, the spirits were high and we were all ready to attack our first league match head on and hopefully come out with a win. Unfortunately, we lost the toss and were put in to bat, which was a very difficult task as the rain started to fall and the visibility became poor.

We lost our two openers quickly, but Jaya came in at number three and played a slow, stable innings while wickets were falling around her, until she was caught off K. Allan’s bowling. Hannah Stobbs picked up eighteen runs to help the score move along, and Melissa played a magnificent innings, scoring 25 runs and using up almost all of the overs we still had left.

Despite a nervous start to the innings, our tail enders, Melissa, Siobhan and Emma, really pulled their weight and we managed to get 110 runs off 30 overs. We went to tea with a slightly lower total than we would have liked, but the runs were on the board and we were prepared to defend them.

A great opening spell of bowling from Sara Begg and Jaya Pindoria made the early breakthroughs, Helena Stolle taking a safe catch off Sara’s bowling after a faultless performance behind the wicket.

Emma Norman and Emily Jones then came on and continued where the openers had left off. Emily bowled a fantastic line, taking final figures of 3 for 19 off 6 overs, containing the batters and forcing them to make mistakes.

Melissa was the Freddie Flintoff of the day, after having a great day with the bat, she went on to take 1 for 9 off 2 overs, while Victoria Begg, the captain for the day, finished off the tail end taking 3 for 7 off 2.2 overs.

All the bowling was backed up by superb fielding from everyone, especially good close fielding by Hannah Rea. We all played as a unit, supporting each other throughout the match and keeping a positive mind set, and went on to win the game comfortably by 47 runs.

A huge ‘thank you’ to the coach, Ranjit, who really helped us win the game and made sure we were all prepared for our batting and bowling. Also to Ron and Phil for scoring, Keith and Deborah for teas and everyone else who chipped in to make the day such a great success.