Stortford won the toss and elected to field. We had a number of debutantes in the team as our U12 numbers have been increasing, and it was obvious with Harpenden not running a U14 team this year they brought a very strong group of girls, all year 7 and experienced cricketers (we counted 3 county players). The girls showed fabulous spirit in the field, and gained in confidence throughout their time in the field. Catherine and Jessica as the most experienced girls bowled straightest, but the other girls really worked hard to apply their training to bowl well. But we both conceded wides and boundaries, that lead to a high score of 323 for 2 wickets.
So we had to bat very well, and Catherine and Isabella started well with good shots and running before a lengthy rain break interrupted their progress. Good efforts from both Alice Luksan and Alice Lowe (who's idea was it to have two Alices batting together at the same time? A scorers nightmare!) I was very impressed by Grace Gladen, who showed real bravery as the girls two years older than her bowled quick and straight at her but she fought hard to score runs and not get out, well done to her. With her batting partner Evie Chidgey they dealt with the best of the Harpenden bowling. The final partnership between Jessica and Florence was the most productive adding 20 runs and taking us to a respectable 255-4. Well done all who survived the rain and hopefully learned a lot from the experience.
Player of the match Jessica Fraser-Andrews for her 11 not out and very straight bowling.