Ashford beat Finchley Gunns 2nd XI by 10 wickets

Women’s Cricket Southern League, Wostrack Division, 9th August 2015 Finchley Gunns 2nd XI 73 Ashford 74-0

Ashford beat Finchley Gunns 2nd XI by 10 wickets
Ashford 74-0 (Rhianna Southby 40*, Elena Jalali 2-0-3-0)

Ashford produced probably their finest display of the season to beat Finchley by 10 wickets, and although the day belonged very much to one player, almost the whole team contributed, with great fielding throughout. Finchley made a tentative start, finding it very difficult to score off the Ashford opening attack of Jenny Tippell and Hannah Merchant, and the bat was beaten so often it seemed only a matter of time before the first wicket would come. It was Tippell who got it, hitting the stumps in her third over, with the score on only 9. Finchley began to rebuild, and looked to be putting together a dangerous partnership, when their skipper Sue Benson hit a ball from Elize Brown high towards mid off. Gill Bonham kept her cool to take a difficult catch, and the momentum was back with Ashford. That was reinforced in the very next over, when Katie Brown pulled off a fantastic catch off her own bowling, stretching up to grab one-handed a ball which seemed to be out of reach. Rhianna Southby then added a very sharp stumping off Elize Brown, to leave the hosts struggling on 61-4 at the halfway mark. Jenny Tippell was brought back into the attack after the drinks break, and what was to follow was a devastating spell of four overs which will live long in the memories of those fortunate enough to witness it. In the first, Finchley’s international player Charvi Bhatt got a fine edge, and was well caught behind the stumps by Southby. In her next over, the batter played all round the ball, only to see it demolish her stumps. Tippell’s eighth and final over was the stuff of dreams. The first ball homed in on the stumps, the batter unable to do anything to stop it. The next delivery was an action replay, giving Tippell her third five wicket haul for Ashford, and the Finchley number 10 came out to face the hat trick ball. All she could do was watch as once again the stumps were smashed, and Tippell was surrounded by her delighted team mates. Angharad Purser cleaned up the final wicket in the next over, and Ashford would need 74 runs to win the game.

Mindful that they not only needed to win the game, but also maximise their batting bonus points, Rhianna Southby played her normal attacking game right from the first delivery, a high no ball which she dispatched to the square leg boundary for four. With Ashford Captain Becky Halls in support, the pair took the attack to the bowlers, and ran well between the wickets. The winning runs came in the 16th over without either bat looking troubled, and with two games to go, Ashford are still in the hunt for the title.

A magnificent display from Ashford, with records tumbling. Tippell’s bowling figures are the best ever for the club, and also take her season’s tally of wickets to 24, a new record for a season, with two games still to go. She also becomes the first player to take a hat trick for the Club.