Ashford beat Shepperton by 4 runs

Ashford 145-5 (Gill Bonham 54*, Jasmine Jones 7-0-14-1)
Shepperton 141 (Aylish Cranstone 38, Sarah Taylor 3.2-0-17-2)

League leaders Ashford expected a tough game against a Shepperton side breathing down their neck in second place, and so it proved. Put in to bat, Ashford got off to a slow start, finding scoring difficult. A combination of good bowling, careful field placement, and solid fielding kept Shepperton on top, and although Rhianna Southby batted with her usual confident assurance, she was unable to find the gaps. The score had reached 41 in the fifteenth over when the first Ashford wicket fell, Southby holing out to mid off. Gill Bonham was playing steadily at the other end, and with Katie Butler, they kept the scoreboard ticking over. A flurry of three wickets for as many runs looked like holding the Ashford score back even further, but Bonham held firm, providing the backbone for the innings. Angharad Purser joined her with ten overs to go, and managed to give a much needed boost to the score, hitting 31 from only 29 balls, and running well between the wickets, before she was caught off the final delivery. Bonham carried her bat through the whole innings, finishing unbeaten on 54, her first fifty of the season.

Shepperton also started their innings cautiously, but Aylish Cranstone soon began playing her strokes with confidence, and found the boundary with ease. With 44 on the board, and having seen off the opening bowlers, it looked like Shepperton were well on track. Ashford’s first breakthrough came with a brilliant piece of fielding from Jenny Tippell at point, resulting in a run out. Once again, Katie Brown was bowling beautifully, and proving hard to score off, and she got her reward thanks to the lightening reactions of Rhianna Southby, who whipped off the bails to stump the dangerous Cranstone, who had made 38. The Shepperton middle order was packed with experience, however, and they seemed to be able to find singles at will, looking very comfortable at the crease. Ashford were running out of runs to play with, and they desperately needed more wickets. An excellent throw from Hannah Merchant brought another run out, but by now the score had reached 115, with only 31 more needed from the last nine overs, with six wickets in hand. Tippell came back to bowl her second spell, and found the edge, but Southby couldn’t hold on to the catch. Recovering quickly, she realised the batsmen were coming through for a single, and threw down the stumps for Ashford’s third run out of the afternoon. A wicket apiece for Tippell and Merchant soon followed, and the balance began to shift once more. Shepperton still needed 20 runs off the last four overs, with only three wickets left. Tippell bowled the 37th over, and did a fine job, conceding only one run. Skipper Katie Butler then turned to Sarah Taylor to take responsibility for two of the final three overs, and in the first she delivered the 8th Shepperton wicket, with them still 13 short of victory. Tippell’s final over would be crucial, and she beat the bat with the first two deliveries, but unfortunately they went for six byes. Only seven needed now, from ten deliveries, and Shepperton once again in the box seat. Then Tippell hit the stumps to take Ashford’s 9th wicket and leave the last Shepperton pair at the crease. Taylor stepped up to bowl the final over with six still required. A single off the first ball, but Taylor held her nerve, and the next delivery trapped the batsman lbw right in front of the stumps. A dramatic victory for Ashford by four runs, with only four balls left.

This was a gritty performance by the whole team, never losing the belief that they could win the game, even when things looked to be slipping away from them. Ashford have now played every side in the league, and will have a commanding lead at the halfway mark. The return fixtures start next weekend, and Ashford will be hoping to maintain their 2015 unbeaten run, and cement their position at the top.

Alison McCreedy