U13 girls lose away at Letchworth

A glorious summer's evening saw us take on Letchworth away at their stunning second ground.

We lost the toss and the opposition chose to field first. Beth, as Captain, put Grace and Florence McB on as first pair and, again, it was a slow start. Grace making 2 from 7 balls faced and Flo 6 from 18 balls. Neither lost a wicket though so a slow but steady start.
Sami and Beth followed and made 5 and 6 respectively. Again, not huge run numbers gained but only 1 wicket down for Sami.
Cerys and Saoirse took to the crease next and scored 4 and 13 respectively, losing a wicket each.
Last pair to the crease were Evie and Mattie. These last 5 overs perhaps demonstrate the need for the girls to work on their communication in their pairs as we saw 3 run outs that could have been avoided. Another good catch by the opposition wicket keeper saw our wicket loss total end at 7. Evie ended on 8 runs and Mattie on 2.
However the real positive to take from this game was witnessing the team spirit. It remained strong and the girls stayed positive even when losing wickets. Their support for each other is always a pleasure to watch.
They kept their heads held high, had fun and just got on with playing the next ball.
We ended our innings on 257/7. Our lowest score this season.

After a quick break we saw the confident Letchworth girls begin to make their mark on the game. The scores were fairly similar after the first 5 overs but we had taken 2 wickets (Evie and Sami).
The next pair had one strong batter who ended on 25 runs not out, her partner losing a wicket to a lovely bowl and catch by Evie.
Then one of their county players made an appearance and her batting was incredibly aggressive and confident, aided by very good bowling by us needless to say! She was halted in her tracks somewhat by super wickets from Grace and Mattie, and she showed her disappointment! This Letchworth ran tactically however to ensure she faced the most balls in the over with her partner only facing 6 balls - and she ended with an impressive 32 runs. Another very strong batter made up half of their final pair with her ending on 26. A second wicket in the last over for Grace took their final winning total to 316/6.

There are definitely lessons to learn from this game which will come with further match experience.
There were some actions that could have helped keep the score a little closer but ultimately their batting won the game for them. Our bowling extras were similar in number and both teams fielded very well.
Focusing on the positives: team spirit, as mentioned above, was awesome as always. The girls remain positive, have fun out on the field and we love that they always finish smiling, whatever the result. They could have become despondent as the oppo's score grew but they held their heads high, chased every ball in the field and kept trying to the very last ball.
Grace was given POM by the opposition but we feel that all the team had their positives and negatives to take from the game and so we feel the whole team deserves it for their positive mental attitude and sportmanship throughout the entire game.

Thanks to all parents for making the trip and to James for umpiring and giving the girls their pep talk again.
Onwards and upwards girls. Let's even up the score on the 3rd!!!