Ashford lost to Guildford by 2 wickets

Ashford 122-9 (Hannah Merchant 25, Rachel Candy 8-2-16-3)
Guildford 126-8 (Rachel Candy 40, Jenny Tippell 9-4-9-4)

The top of the table clash at Woodbridge Road turned out to be a thriller, both sides in with a chance of winning right up to the final ball. Batting first, and facing Surrey’s opening attack of Katherine Robson and New Zealand international Rachel Candy, Ashford made the worst possible start, slumping to 3-3, the pick of the wickets a fine catch off her own bowling by Candy. Becky Halls was joined at the crease by Hannah Merchant, and together the two slowly began to rebuild the innings. Merchant scored the more freely of the two and when she was bowled for 25, the pair had added 51 for the fourth wicket. Three more wickets quickly followed, and at 75-7 it looked unlikely that Ashford would reach three figures. However, Ali McCreedy and Elize Brown got their heads down, determined to get the side through their 45 overs. Scoring was slow to start with, but the pair were patient, waiting for the bad balls, and added 40 together, a club record for the eighth wicket, before McCreedy fell for 22 in the 42nd over. Brown was bowled soon after, but Ashford hung on, and finished on 122-9, giving their bowlers something to work with.

Ashford wanted early wickets, and were soon in business, Jenny Tippell striking twice, and a wicket apiece for Elize Brown and Yolandi Maynier. That brought Candy to the crease, and she hit six 4s on her way to 40 off only 27 balls, an innings which looked to be taking the game away from Ashford. However, Tippell had other ideas, and clean bowled her international opponent. She then followed up in the next over with a similar delivery to dismiss Guildford skipper and Surrey player, Robson. Guildford were six down and still needed 29 more to win. Ashford threw everything they had at the batsmen, but the runs were accumulating, and Guildford were within six of their target when the game took another twist. Angharad Purser held a good catch off Brown’s bowling, then in the next over, Amy Evans took one off Maynier’s, leaving Guildford with two wickets left and the scores level. With the field in to stop the single, the batsmen just had to hold their nerve until a ball got through a gap, and they did so in the 34th over to take Guildford home, and probably to the top of the league.

Despite the result, Ashford showed great spirit and determination, coming back from a seemingly impossible position to get within touching distance of victory. The side’s confidence has grown enormously, and right up to the end they still believed that they could pull off an unlikely win, which bodes well for the future.

Alison McCreedy