This was cricket at its best - glorious sunshine, a beautiful cricket ground, and an exciting game, the result of which was in doubt right up to the final over. Ashford chose to bat first on a good track, but found themselves up against a very accurate bowling attack. Although the hosts had only 9 players, runs proved extremely hard to come by, and the loss of two early wickets left Ashford in some trouble. Becky Halls and Ali McCreedy gradually got things going in the right direction, and took the score up to 55 before McCreedy lost her wicket. This brought Jenny Tippell to the crease, and she set about the bowling as if it was a practice game, hitting a 6 and four 4s on her way to 42 off only 47 balls. The rest of the Ashford bats all contributed, fine running from Sarah Taylor and Yolandi Maynier taking 11 off the final over, to leave the team with a total of 141.

The Bishops Stortford reply started steadily, as Ashford’s bowlers struggled to take the first wicket. Hannah Merchant bowled without any luck, beating the bat time after time, and on one occasion clipping the bail, which agonisingly stayed in place. It took a brilliant piece of fielding from Angharad Purser to get the breakthrough, her throw smashing the stumps as the batsmen tried a quick single. Despite this setback, the home side were still well in touch at the halfway drinks break. A spell of four maidens immediately afterwards, two each from Purser and Merchant, increased the pressure on the bats, as the required rate began to rise. Skipper Rebecca Witherden began playing her shots, and was looking dangerous when Purser struck again, taking a difficult catch off her own bowling. Ashford’s fielders worked hard all afternoon to save runs, none more so than young Katie Brown, making her league debut. She covered a lot of ground around one side of the boundary, and was not afraid to get behind the ball to stop it crossing the line. Even so, Bishops Stortford were still on course to reach their target, Bell having arrived to the crease with attacking intent. Jenny Tippell came back to bowl her last two overs, and took a wicket in each, which put some pressure back on the home side, but the required rate was still within reach. Ali McCreedy came back for a second spell, and managed to get some good bounce to surprise Bell, Katie Butler taking an excellent catch behind the stumps. Another wicket fell in the same over, this time to a good catch by Beth Evans. Three overs to go and 20 runs needed. Purser bowled a tight over, conceding only two, then McCreedy’s last over went for three, with Purser on the mark again, getting another run out. The last two bats needed 15 from the final over, but Merchant kept her cool and brought Ashford home by ten runs.

Truly a team performance, with all the Ashford players making important contributions. Their third league victory of the season will keep them near the top of the league, and lots of good performances today bode well for the rest of the campaign.

Alison McCreedy

Match details

Match date

Sun 02 Jun 2013

Kickoff

13:45

Team overview