Close but no packet of sweets

Apologies to Jasmine on an earlier version of this report I omitted to mention the wicket she took in the final over.

The weather did not look good at the start of the day – we woke to wet ground and driving to the game there were plenty of rain drops on the windscreen. The rain eased as we approached North Curry before starting again as we were warming up. Eventually it did clear away although it remained windy and overcast throughout.

Issy was our captain today – choosing heads in the toss and losing. North Curry elected to bowl first.

We welcomed Gemma into our team today as a late replacement – thank you to Gemma for stepping in at short notice – this was Gemma’s first hard ball match – despite being experienced in the nets but you could not tell this from the way she played the game.

Our wicket keepers today were Faith and Erin – some of our bowling was delivered with pace which made it a tricky job for those behind the stumps – but they both did well in a position they were not used to and have had no practice in.

Lily and Megan Driskell were our opening pair. Lily started strongly with a lovely shot to score 2 off the first ball. Both Lily and Megan batted well but were not always able to turn the shots into runs. Lily did score a lovely 4 from a no ball in the last over the pair faced. In total the girls added 19 with Lily scoring 9 and Megan 3 taking our total to 219.

Our second pair in were Lulu and Gemma. There were some good shots on display as the girls worked well together and between them they amassed 15 with Lulu scoring 5 and Gemma 6 and taking our total to 234.

Third in were Issy and Emily, the girls started strongly with a burst of 1s during the first over – always looking for runs – but they did become a little bogged down and struggled during subsequent overs - it was also during this pair that we lost our first wicket with Issy being bowled by a good straight ball. The girls added 13 (7 Wicket Adjusted) with Issy adding 3 and Emily 4 taking our total to 241.

Our fourth pair were Erin and Faith – they shared the facing duties exactly with each facing 12 balls. I thought this pair also ran well between the wickets scoring several good 1’s. The pair also made the best of a mis-field managing to score 3 off one of the balls. Erin and Faith managed to add 14 runs to the total (8 Wicket Adjusted) with Erin adding 4 and Faith adding 7 taking our total to 249.

Our final pair were Jasmine and Megan Clark. Jasmine played some beautiful shots and the opposition captain at one point called on his fielders to move out towards the boundary, she managed to score 3 good 4’s during the period as well as several other well struck 1's. The pair added 24 (12 Wicket Adjusted) to our total with Jasmine adding 16 and Megan 3- taking our final score to 261.

We only lost 4 wickets this week – which was better than last – but we also had several periods in the game where we did not manage to get enough (if anything) on the ball and we consequently got a little bogged down– given the amount of wickets we lost I thought the score was potentially low but we were in with a shot if we kept our bowling tight.

When we last played North Curry the difference between the teams and what won us the game was the quick singles and the running between the wickets and this was clearly something they had worked on and improved in during training. They were constantly looking for runs whether it be from quick singles off the bat or byes behind the stumps.

Megan Driskell was tightest bowler today only going for 2 runs and 2 byes. A lovely consistent spell Megan giving you figures of 2-0-0-4.

Lily Blackwell has been consistent in most games we have played in and from the opposition benches where I was sat scoring there was lots of appreciative chat with regards to her bowling action. Lily only bowled 1 wide and 1 no ball and managed to take 2 wickets – her final figures were 2-0-2-11 a really good period of bowling.

Our other wicket takers were Megan Clark (2-0-1-9), Jasmine Rao (2-0-1-11) and Emily Cameron (2-0-1-14) - we also managed to take a run out wicket with a good quick bit of fielding from Issy off the bowling of Megan Clark.

In total we took 6 wickets which is an improvement on last weeks match.

Up until the fourth pair the match could have gone either way but Jayden and Chris from North Curry came in and really took the game to the bowlers with aggressive running between the wickets combined with some lovely shots. Jayden scored 20 and Chris 7 – in this 24 ball period there were only 5 dot balls and 2 wides. Every other ball was a scoring shot with several 2’s and a couple of 4’s also thrown in. During this period I recall 1 very good diving stop on the boundary – by Lulu a really good effort to stop the ball going for 4 and saving us at least a couple of runs.

As with last weeks game the opposition had the runs in the bag when the final pair came to the crease and they just had to see the game out. They were again sharp between the wickets scoring several byes in the first couple of overs. We did manage to breathe some life into the game with a couple of wickets late on to give us hope going into the final over but it was not to be.

There is plenty we can learn from this game – less leg side balls, possibly being slightly more alive in the field and remembering to walk in for every ball – we also need ensure we are always alive to providing back up to fielders – don’t assume the fielder in front of you is going to stop the ball – be it another fielder or the wicket keeper. We also gifted the opposition 40 runs in Wides and No Balls and this was also instrumental in our loss – but again it’s all a good learning experience and we just need to ensure that when we bowl everything is focussed on the stumps for each and every ball.

Out top scorers this week were Jasmine (16), Lily (9) and Faith (7) – the wicket adjustments only change the scores and not the positions – well done to all.

The opposition selected player of the match was Megan Clark.

Stevens player of the match was Lily Blackwell for a good all round display with both bat and ball.