Match report OGCC women’s 1XI vs Aldershot 1XI
Aldershot 1XI 8/161 (Hartnett 3/26 James 2/22 Patten-hall 2/25) def by OGCC 1XI 4/162 (Hartnett 65* James 35 Guyot 33)
Hangover count: 1
Total hangover count: 5
Game two of the season for the women’s 1XI and we were away against aldershot. I’m sure we all have fond memories of last time we were here, chasing around leather for 40 overs as we watched Ella chandler score 150* or something ridiculous like that in the first game of the season. What a welcome to the div 1 that was. But coming off a strong season last year and a very convincing performance against Yatley last week, the girls were a lot more confident and ready to turn up and play some serious cricket. Hunters chicken paninis from the panini queen chairman on Tuesday gave us all the fuel we need for a solid week of training and a great fielding session ran by Ali gave us some good advice leading into the weekend. Becky must have decided that loosing the toss meant us winning games, so lost the toss (which is 0/4) and we were sent into field.
Double trouble if Hanna and Billie opened the bowling. They bowled very well but weren’t rewarded with any wickets. The fielding was tight and the standards set high. The pressure was on from the beginning and the dots kept building from the get go. Becky and Emily came onto bowl after the openers. Yet again more great bowling, a couple very hard chances, not many runs but still no wickets. After some spells filled with ridiculous economy rates and very few chances or runs given by aldershot, Katie Barden was able to make the first breakthrough just before drinks. We had to work really hard out there for the first one, as they weren’t giving many chances and at times there was lots of running to do around the big outfield. Katie bowled it, charlotte caught it and just like that we had made the first break through of the game with the score now 1/49 off 19. Quick drinks to hype up again and we were back out there. Aldershot built another solid partnership and one that we struggled to break. The fielding was quality though from the girls. Everyone wore a couple and I’m sure there were lots of bruises appearing the next morning. Again with the long boundaries, there was lots of running but lots of balls chased down and stopped as well. With lots of fielders out on the boundary, safe hands Hanna was picked out by the batters and was hit to at cover off Emily’s bowling, another big and well needed break through and aldershot now at 2/101 off 28. A stumping by Sophie not long after got emily another wicket. Becky than came on and took three quick wickets all bowled (thanks for the fantasy’s points!!). Hanna bowled the last over. One batter tried to ramp her and got bowled and on the last ball of the game the other batter tried to do the same thing and was bowled as well, with Hanna knocking over the stumps both times. Aldershot finished 8/161 off 40 overs. The bowling and fielding was at a sky high standard and even though we were out there for a long time the girls were energetic and composed. I think Wendy got batted and bruised the most, diving around for everything like the floor was a bouncy castle and getting a proper nasty spike mark gash on her leg that looked like a shark had used her leg as a tooth pick. What a legend. But it really was a great effort by everyone out there to get it down to a very chaseable score.
It’s always a sad day when there’s no teas. Let’s just take a moment to remember the amazing aldershot tea we had last year, which had chicken nuggets and pizza. What a tea that was. There was an array of meal deals and packed snacks, including a few massive packets of lollies that the downhams got.
With Nat still on scoring duty (I’m also going to add decided to cycle to the game go nat), it was Princess Sophia and myself (Nat) to open the batting. We only needed 4s so we’re quite relaxed out there. Vibes were chill and sun was shining. We kept it ticking along for the first couple overs, some smart running and a few early boundaries helped us along the way. Princess Sophia decided to be so kind to the royal subjects in aldershot and provide them with some catching practise, hitting the ball right to covers hands and getting caught. This brought Zoe into bat. Some silly running from myself (almost getting run out twice in one over) and a couple more boundaries and we were cruising along nicely. A spinner had come on from one end who bowled Zoe, bringing Becky into bat. Myself and Becky batted for a while. Becky was feeling nice just like princess Sophia but instead of catching practice, gave the other team fielding practice instead and kept picking them out in her first couple overs. Tbh, both of us kept hitting extra cover a lot and I think Kristie was actually like mrs incredible with stretchy arms cause she stopped so many. RIP the perfectly timed cover drives that got stopped with one hand. Becky eventually found the gap and hit a lovely boundary to get her started. We kept the runs ticking along, still only needing 4 an over. Vibes were good, opposition was putting up some good bowling as well but the pressure wasn’t really on us at that point we were just living our best lives out in the middle. This wasn’t to last much longer, as I swung at a short and wide one outside off and edged it to the keeper. This brought Hanna in. We still had a long was to go with the score at 3/57 so just over 100 runs. The girls slowly ticked away at it, making good progress. At about 10 overs, we needed to go at 7s. A big over with a few boundaries and we were back down to 4.6 an over. They were bowling well but we were batting better. Becky and Hanna looked cool, calm and collected. The pressure didn’t seem to get to them but it definetly got to us. I think just about every ball we checked how many runs we needed per over. Becky brought up a very well made 50 and they kept going along. It was very stressful. Although we backed them all the way, we knew it could get close. My watch even told me I was very stressed cause we looked after and it peaked for the day towards the end. A couple more boundaries and well ran 2s and the run rate had lowered to 3.5s but our heart rate didn’t get any lower. And then Hanna got out. The ball died a bit and it bowled her. There was no time to play yourself in at all and there was lots of pressure so Billie was sent in next. We needed 7 off the 2 overs. Billie and Becky were in with Billie facing. First ball, whacked to cow corner and they pushed a three. 4 needed. If I’m being honest I think there was another single or something in here but I was very stressed and half was watching but then was half too stressed to watch. At the end, Becky was on strike. As classy as ever, Becky hits a 4 to finish it off and we could all breathe a sigh of relief. We had won with only an over and a bit to spare. Becky ended up on 65* (up the fantasy points) and had a perfect captains knock to guide us to the win.
What a good game of cricket that was. It really had all the emotions throughout the day. Happiness. Nerves. Stress. Relief. A bit of pain as well. But it was a confident win from the girls against a strong side and showed how we had grown as a team. Everyone did their part, whether with the bat, ball or throwing themselves around in the field to stop the ball. Overall, a great game of cricket from both sides which made for some exciting viewing. Pizza back at the club thanks to Ciara (legendary) kept the celebrations going and we were able to eat a bit of our stress away. Big game next week against Wessex at home (the side where the match reports started and a fire had been lit and if you can’t remember what happened please go have a read of the best match report I have ever written about our very intense game from last year). It should be an entertaining game to say the least so get down to kings street next Sunday to cheer on the girls. 2/2 so far this season in league cricket and currently top of the table, yeah the girls !!!!!!
Panini list
1. Hunters chicken
2. Chicken tikka masala
3. Classic ham and cheese
