Match report vs New Forest
New Forest 10/125 (Hartnett 3/8 Hancock 3/10) def by OGCC 5/127 (Guyot 36 Cook 23)
Last away game of the season and off we all jumped into our cars for a little road trip to the New Forest. Nat had to keep her windows up on the drive to make sure horse hair didn’t get in so she didn’t have an allergic reaction while driving. We were mostly on time getting there as the ground was hidden between all the trees. After two weeks of practicing calling coin tosses in America, Becky won a toss for the second time this season (!!!!!) and sent us into the field with the hope the slight dampness on the surface of the wicket would dry up before we batted later that afternoon.
Billie and Becky opened the bowling, with Billie doing the normal of building the pressure with the wickets coming at the opposite end with Becky bowling their opener. Both girls were bowling some absolute seeds and using the pitch to their advantage, with the ground being a bit clay like making it a bit sticky if you found the right spot. Professional Loan Play Naomi Lynch was diving around and acting like a human brick wall at cover, fitting right in and another great cricket brain on the field. The run rate was kept down nicely with some really good areas bowled, with it going at just over one for nearly the first 10 overs. Becky took another one not long later, with it getting hit to me at short cover and bowling the next bat the same over with New Forest 3/6. New Forest were able to build a bit of a partnership at this point and place a few in the gaps, with Megan and Princess Sophia the first of Chineham coming onto bowl. Nat Mitchell kept showing us her super human dives all over the place just to make us remember that her knee is mostly fixed now but I’m not sure how well that went on the ribs, fingers, hamstring, etc. Megan also took advantage of the sticky pitch and pulling the length back a tiny bit, finding the same spot as Becky with another catches popped up to me at short cover. Cove but odiham for the day Naomi took another catch off Megan’s bowling and Megan didn’t feel like sharing anymore so decided to bowl the next batter a bit later in the over. Georgia and Emily came onto bowl and kept the good momentum going. Georgia found her areas and bowled some absolute seeds, really unlucky not to get a wicket with her height coming in handy. Ems built up some great pressure with lots of dots. The opposition thought it was a good idea to try run a quick single past Hope, but even after a couple weeks gallivanting around the continent in France and Spain and Italy hope was on it. A clean pick up and right into Nats gloves resulted in a run out and left New Forest 7/76. Another partnership built here but the girls kept on it, not loosing focus and keeping the pressure on. The opener had stuck around and held up her end really well, solidifying the New Forests innings. We had to work hard to get her out but she sliced at one off Ems bowling which went spinning up in the air but luckily landed in my hands (still at short cover). Em then thought she absolutely ragged one for the next bowled wicket but apparently it actually just went straight on (still a seed). Billie and Becky came back on with Billie taking the last wicket just as Hope had been told to come on next over. A really great fielding performance for the team with all chances taken and so much effort put in chasing the ball down and getting our bodies behind the ball, with I’m sure a couple bruises found this morning. New Forest ended up all out for 125 off 37.4 over with us needing 126 to win.
We love a tea at OGCC and New Forests teas got the hope Horne sticker of approval. They had a make your own sandwich style tea, with some good bread, cheese and meats to make your own custom sandwich. They had a good variety of fruit and chips and dip. They had the little pots of mini desserts as well as some gluten free and dairy free brownie which made Billie very happy. Thanks New Forest for the teas we really appreciated it!!
Twin duo Hope and myself opened the batting with us needing to go at just over 3 an over for the win. We ticked it along nicely to start with, not really in a rush or hassle and we’re able to put the bad ball away from the start. The outfield slowed down a lot but the boundary wasn’t very long so we were able to hit the gap and get it all the way through quite early. Hope had three lbw shouts in a row, with the third one being out after the pitch helped again and held onto the ball instead of letting it bounce. Sophia the first came into bat and we batted relaxed for a while not having to push anything. It was perfect cricket weather but still hot enough I was given an in depth analysis of the sweat dripping off Sophie’s eye lids in the break between overs. I was given out caught behind a couple overs after the first drinks, bringing Noa in. She hit the ball hard and managed to find the boundary easily, not needing to run singles anymore. She hit one back over the bowlers head and coach Pauly D went shot Noa right off the bat but she ended up getting caught on the boundary. Princess tried to get one over as well but decided to give mid off fielding practice, hitting it straight to her on the ring. Pauly D then went on the jinx Naomi, with her smashing one on the leg side and Paul saying shot but she was also caught on the deep midwicket boundary. We were then 5/110 and just wanted to add to the excitement of the game by having a little batting collapse just to bring the heart rates up a bit. Luckily for us Becky and Nat were very sensible and responsible senior players and guided us to the total, getting us over the line in the 21st over.
A really good team effort from the girls resulting in a good win. Nice to hit a run of form late in the season and let’s bring the momentum to the last league game of the season, also against New Forest but home at Long Sutton. We were only 5 minutes away from the sea so a post match beach trip was definetly needed. We all floated around like fish and cooled off. Megan kept falling over on the rocks and Sophie and I nearly played chicken until we thought it was better to rejoin the team. We threw a tennis ball around in the water and watched the sun slowly set with the sky exploded into a fiery array of colours. It felt like a great way to finish our last away game, even if the ice cream place was shut by the time we got out having left the influences to their photo shoot at the beach. So much team spirit shown from the girls, backing each other all the way with the fun vibes and performances to match. What a team and what a day!
