Match report vs St Cross 1XI
St Cross 10/275 (Cook 3/8 Patten-Hall 3/69) def OGCC (Mitchell 33 Guyot 27)
It was our last kings street home game of the season with all the girls rocking up early to make the most of it. A good day to be playing cricket. With Becky still out of the continent, Nat Mitchell was in charge again and yet again her tossing skills were unmatched winning a second toss in a row and sending the newly crowned national ECB T20 champions St Cross into bat first.
Billie took the new ball and the treats must have been out from the start, with Billie bowling some really nice areas. The pressure was on right from the start with lots of close chances and tight bowling in the first few overs. Viral sensation Lucy opened from the other end. With Lucy’s instagram reel on 543 000 veiws and still going up, she made sure to take her crocs off and put on her spikes before going out to bowl. Good choice made there cause she bowled really well from the start and I’m sure the spikes helped with that. St Cross are top of the league for a reason so we always knew it would be a tough game. Emily P-H came onto bowl and was literally buzzing but not sure if that’s from the caffeine she had before the game to keep her away after working night shifts or because she was so excited to be back. Lottie came onto bowl from the clubhouse end and took the first wicket of the game. Even though she’s only young, she used her cricket brain and bowled a surprise cutter which tricked the batter and bowled her. Emily wanted to join in on the fun and got an lbw from the other end. St Cross were then 2/131 just before drinks. The cordial (or squash as some people call it) had a good ratio so thanks to whoever made it, it was well appreciated. Lips had to be zipped shut with the key thrown away and exploded to keep our promise to coach paul or no chat, but keep that promise we did as the well behaved cricketers we are. A new strategy was took on after drinks. After watching the Aussie bowlers terrify the England batters, we decided it was a good idea to do the same thing and the short stuff was brought out. Short stuff, chin music, bouncers, whatever you want to call it. Princess Sophia the first was picked for the job. Sophia the first made the batters look uncomfortable right from the start. The plan worked and back fierd at the same time, with the short ball gaining a wicket with a small dead spot being found in the pitch which sent the ball crashing into the stumps. Noa’s cannon arm was able to stop a lot of the 2s and 3s as she chilled out on the boundary for pretty much the whole game and rocketing the ball back in whenever it came near her. Emily took another wicket from the other end, with some good glove work from Livy with the batter being both caught behind and stumped, with stumped being put on the scorecard. Emily’s caffeine had clearly kicked in, as she took out the set st cross batter with another lbw and the score 7/200. St Cross managed to find the gaps and build a bit of a partnership at this point. Ciara bowled some good areas before Billie and Lucy came back onto bowl with the same heat as their opening spells. Billie got two more wickets in one over (treats were back out once again). To no one’s surprise Captain Nat Leach brought herself back onto bowl and was ragging it a bit. Nat was determined to take the last wicket and in an attempt to field the ball off her own bowling went into full splits. No one knew Nat was so flexible and I think she surprised both herself and her hamstring in the attempt. Lottie took the last wicket to bowl St Cross out for 275. It might not seem like a big deal but it’s the first time St Cross had been bowled out in over two years so it was actually a massive achievement and felt like a win already even though we were only halfway through the game.
Nat Mitchell the true all rounder really did it all this week, as she also made teas. They were good teas and after a tiering first innings we were more than ready to tuck in. There was something from everyone was the best selection of sandwiches, good pasta and some really good grapes. A great tea produced by the skipper and well appreciated by the team.
With a big total to chase and a strong bowling attack to face, we knew it was going to be a tough chase. A short ball that was cut away for four off the first ball was a strong start by the Os with Princess Sophia and myself opening the batting. We kept it ticking over and put some good overs together. Just before we were going to see off both openers, Sophie played around a turning one and was bowled. Noa came in and looked solid from the start. We ran some super quick singles, with Noa seeming surprised every time I called yes and made sure I knew to not run her out or else (probably a needed reminder). While we were batting, you could see Freddie sprinting around the boundary with Neil chasing after him, obviously practicing running his quick singles. After some smashing shots that found the boundary, Noa was also bowled. Nat squared was back!!! We stuck around until drinks, running some singles and playing a mixture of dirty swipes across and line and textbook drives to get runs. Drinks in the second innings were good for orange but a bit too strong for Nat Leachs taste buds for the purple one but seemed well enjoyed by st cross. I was bowled after drinks, after taking a big wind up before realising the ball was starting to dip. Livy and Nat batted really well together, and slowly just kept our runs ticking over. St Cross had a really strong bowling attack so our aim changed to bat as many overs as possible and get as many batting points as we could. Liv was caught for a well made 15. Nat and Lucy also batted really well together, hitting the ball hard and making sure the St Cross fielders stayed pushed out on the boundary. Nat was bowled with Lottie caught not long after. Emily and Lucy hung around together for a bit until emily played around one and was bowled with Lucy following shortly after and Ciara not far after that. A lovely slip drive from Billie that she was robbed from (given as a bye) kept our total building. Billie was bowled by the opener, leaving Amelie not out in her first ever Div 1 game (and after fielding really well as well!!) and with us finished up all out for 132 off 37.4 overs.
Even though it looks like a loss, it didn’t feel that way. Being the first team to bowl out St Cross for ages and nearly batting out all out over, as well as a really great effort from everyone and good vibes around the team felt like a win. You win as a team and you loose as a team and it felt like everyone did their part to have a really good game and put up a good fight against a very talented team that are undefeated and top of the division. With two more league games left, both against New Forest let’s go finish the season on a good note!! Go the girls!!
Hangover count: 0
Total hangovers: 17
Final panini ranking list to come during the week…
