Staffordshire women made the trip to Hertfordshire to play two T/20 matches at Hitchin CC.
Staffordshire beat Hertfordshire by 16 runs in game 1.
Staffordshire won the toss and elected to bat in the first game. They lost Lydia Perry early as they were reduced to 7/1 in the 3rd over. Helen Hughes and Megan Pittman then put on an astonishing 159 for the second wicket in just 15 overs as Staffordshire really put the hammer down. Hughes made 43 from 53 balls, including four 4’s as she played the supporting role. Pittman raced to 50 off just 33 balls, never missing an opportunity to score. She brought up a well-deserved century off just 57 balls as Staffordshire looked to post a huge total. After reaching her century, Pittman was dismissed on the very next ball, bowled by the impressive Becky Finch. Her innings contained an amazing seventeen 4’s and one 6. Staffordshire finished 172/4 from their 20 overs.
Finch was the only bowler capable of slowing the run rate down throughout the innings. She bowled with great control and accuracy and finished with figures of 2/16 off her four overs.
Lucy Shenton took two early wickets to reduce Hertfordshire to 14/2 in the 3rd over as their chase began poorly. They were soon 23/3 when Anusha Chauhan trapped Georgie Chronnell LBW, and when they lost Jenna-May Botha to the penultimate ball of the powerplay, leaving them 34/4, it looked like the game was really up. Hertfordshire captain Kezia Hassall had other ideas, though she blitzed an unbeaten 89 from just 50 balls as she desperately tried to get her side over the line. In the end, she lacked the support of her teammates as Hertfordshire closed on 156/7 off their 20 overs. Hassall’s innings contained eleven 4’s and two 6’s, and she was unlucky to be on the losing side. Chauhan took the bowling honours for Staffordshire, finishing with 3/30 from her 4 overs. Shenton claimed 2/31 from her 4 overs as Staffordshire just about did enough to claim victory in the first game.
Hertfordshire beat Staffordshire by 4 wickets in game 2.
Staffordshire again won the toss and elected to bat in game 2.
It wasn’t the start that Staffordshire were after in the second game when they were reduced to 5/3 in the 3rd over, thanks to some brilliant new ball bowling by the impressive Finch and Chronnell.
Chronnell claimed two big wickets in the 2nd of the innings. She first bowled Hughes for a single, then five balls later she had the dangerous Pittman caught by Jenna-May Botha for a duck to leave the Staffordshire innings in real trouble. Lydia Perry then bagged a pair for the day when she was bowled by Finch to make things even worse for Staffordshire.
Emily Hughes began the rebuilding effort for Staffordshire as they looked to get up to a competitive score, but when Shenton was dismissed by Chloe Eayrs, Staffordshire were teetering at 36/6. Hughes then found a partner in Chauhan, and between them they pushed the score up to 78 before Hughes was bowled by the returning Finch for a well-made 50, which came off 43 balls and contained five 4’s. Staffordshire’s lower order scrambled well, Chauhan added a valuable 17 before she was the ninth wicket to fall. Staffordshire were bowled all out for 94 in the final over. Finch finished with figures of 2/9 from her 4 overs as she impressed once again, Chronnell 3/14 off 3.3 overs, and Chloe Eayrs claimed 3/25 as the Hertfordshire bowlers were excellent.
Hertfordshire’s reply was going well until they lost four wickets for no runs in 5 balls. They had made their way calmly to 23 before the chaos unfolded.
Eve Morgan was run out by Molly Dytham after a bad call from her partner, Eva Cullen. Chauhan then claimed two wickets in two balls, first she bowled Cullen, then she bowled Eayrs as things started to unravel for Hertfordshire. When Jenna-May Botha was caught and bowled by Dytham for a duck in the next over, the wheels really had come off the Hertfordshire innings.
Again, it was down to Hassall to rescue the innings. This time, she found a partner in Hayley Arrol.
Arrol made a run-a-ball 21 as she added 58 for the 5th wicket with her captain, to push the score up to 81 before she was dismissed by Shenton, leaving Hertfordshire 14 runs short of victory with 23 balls remaining in their innings. Hassall then got her team over the line with an unbeaten 44 from 48 balls, in an innings that contained six 4’s. Chauhan finished with figures of 2/9 from her 4 overs as she impressed in both games with the ball.
The day really belonged to Hassall, though she played two splendid innings, one in a losing cause and one in a winning cause. She scored 133 runs in the day without being dismissed. Both teams will have been happy to pick up some points from this fixture, as both games could have gone either way.
Staffordshire are next in action when they take on Bucks women in another double header at Ascott Estate on the 24th of May.
Comments
2 responses
Very good reporting 👏 👍 you are very very efficient once again brilliantly done ✔ Malc
Very good reporting 👏 👍 you are very very efficient once again brilliantly done ✔ Malc