Ashford beat Rowledge by 5 wickets

Rowledge 91-7 (Katie Forward 24, Katie Brown 4-2-3-4)
Ashford 92-5 (Jenny Tippell 35* ret., S Hyland 2-0-9-3)

This has been quite a week for Ashford’s two 14 year olds, starting on Monday when Rhianna Southby joined the Surrey senior squad for the T20 at the Oval against Middlesex, then Katie Brown picked up her first five wicket haul, playing for Ashford’s colts, and was called up to join Southby in the Surrey U15 side. So it was with plenty of confidence that the team travelled to Rowledge for their latest Juniper Green development league game. Rowledge made a very positive start, led by Katie Forward, and although they lost a couple of early wickets, the runs were coming at a brisk rate. A couple of wickets from Hannah Merchant slowed things down, then Katie Brown completed her spell with three wickets in her final two overs, diving to take the catch which gave her best ever senior figures of 4 for 3. Mel Newcombe bowled tidily, and Becky Halls closed the innings with a couple of overs for only five runs. Ashford’s bowlers were well supported by their fielders, and Rowledge could manage only 20 runs off the last six overs, taking their total to 91.

Ashford started their run chase with intent, and Jenny Tippell led the way, playing some glorious strokes all round the wicket, notching up eight 4s on her way to the retirement score of 35. Hannah Merchant wasn’t far behind, scoring 33 and taking her side to within four runs of victory. There were a few anxious moments when two more Ashford wickets fell for only one run, but with wickets and overs in hand, it wasn’t a problem, and the winning score was reached with more than two overs to spare.

Alison McCreedy