Ashford Ladies v Catford Wanderers Ladies

Ashford should have cemented their place at the top of Division 2 with a hard fought victory over Catford. Batting first, they struggled to score quickly at first, and every time a partnership was established, another wicket was lost. Hannah Merchant steadied things, hitting four boundaries on her way to 27, but when hers was the eighth wicket to fall with the score on 94, it looked like Ashford would struggle to reach three figures. Yolandi Maynier came out to join Sarah Taylor, and the two of them set about the attack, Taylor anchoring the partnership while Maynier played her shots, smacking four 4s on her way to 35 off only 32 deliveries. Their partnership of 45 lifted Ashford to a defendable total of 139, and smashed the previous club record for the 9th wicket.

Ashford’s bowlers got the side off to the best possible start, Hannah Merchant and Jenny Tippell reducing Catford to 5-3. Merchant then took a good catch off Angharad Purser’s bowling to make it 17-5, and Catford were in serious trouble. Greer Hill and Sarah Berman began to get the scoreboard ticking over, with some aggressive running between the wickets, although Ashford’s fielders all worked hard to keep the runs down, Beth Evans making some fine stops, and Katie Brown doing well patrolling the boundary. The two bats had put on 62 together before Berman was well caught behind the stumps by Katie Butler, her second catch of the game. Catford were still in with a chance while Hill was at the crease, but a poor call from her partner and a good throw from Purser saw her run out, and Ashford soon got the remaining two wickets they needed, to win by 29 runs, with an over to spare.

Once again Ashford got themselves into trouble with the bat, but once again a couple of batsmen stepped up to save the innings, and then the bowlers finished the job.

Alison McCreedy