N Sadiq and H Merchant star in Ashford win

Ashford pulled off a remarkable victory in a high scoring contest against fellow promotion hopefuls, Spencer. Batting first, Ashford struggled against some good bowling, and the wickets began to tumble. Nazia Sadiq held up one end, but none of her partners were able to stay with her, and Ashford looked in deep trouble when the score reached 59-6. The next player to bat was Hannah Merchant, and together with Sadiq, they started to attack the bowling. The youngster started off by hooking a couple of no balls, finding the boundary with one of them. She continued to play with no fear, scoring freely all round the wicket, and soon overtook Sadiq. Her fifty came up off only 33 balls, and was her first in senior cricket. Merchant wasn’t finished yet. She carried on finding the boundary, notching up nine 4s, and a strong pull shot brought her first 6. She finished unbeaten on 84. Meanwhile, at the other end, Sadiq was striking the ball powerfully, and soon had her own fifty, her first for Ashford. Her boundary count rose to 13 as the Spencer bowlers suffered, and her unbeaten 86 guided her side to a total of 222, the partnership of 163 with Merchant smashing the previous ladies club record.

Despite having posted a big score, Ashford knew they couldn’t afford to be complacent. They got off to a great start when Merchant struck with the ball this time, but that was the only wicket of the opener’s first spell. Ali McCreedy picked up the next one with her first ball, but the Spencer bats started to find their form, and at the halfway drinks break they were very well placed, on 99-2. Jenny Tippell came back into the attack in the next over, and brought her side a much needed wicket. A brilliant spell of bowling from Yolandi Maynier and Sarah Taylor put the breaks on Spencer’s scoring, only 38 coming off 11 overs, but Victoria Cruickshank still looked dangerous. Ashford had missed several catches off her bat, but Skipper Becky Halls held on to the hardest of the lot, off Maynier’s bowling, to end a fine innings on 71. The lower order couldn’t keep up with the required rate, and Ashford picked up several more wickets on their way to victory, Merchant finishing with three. The whole team fielded well, and Rhianna Southby made an impressive debut behind the stumps, looking very comfortable with the gloves.

A win by 50 runs, by no means as easy as that sounds. Ashford showed great heart in fighting back in both innings to turn the match around. This will lift them further up the league, possibly even to the top.

Alison McCreedy