Actonians Cricket Club

Scorecard

Bushy Park v Actonians Cricket Club Under 14's Girls on Fri 14 Aug 2020 at 5.30pm
Actonians Cricket Club Won by 10 runs

Match report **** MATCH REPORT ****

The game was played at the NPL club on the north side of Bushy Park. For those of you who haven’t been there it is a very expansive and picturesque ground which is ringed by trees and feels like it could be in the middle of the countryside. It is also proved to be a tricky place to find for us Actonians big-city types : plugging the ground’s post-code into google maps directs you to a car park a good 15 minutes walk away from the pitch, and so by five-thirty we had only five players arrived and ready to go. The first of several honourable mentions should go to Bushy who kindly agreed that we could bat while our team arrived at the muster point. The second mention should go to Emma’s dad who arrived in the advance party and spent the first half of the game driving round the various car parks of Bushy to find our players and direct them to the ground.

The scorching weather of the last few days had broken in the previous 24 hours, and at one point we were worried that the game might not go ahead. In the end the thunderstorms predicted on the Met Office website hadn’t come to pass, but the cloud cover was low and gloomy and was to become an important factor later in the game.

Riya and Siena opened the batting and handled some accurate bowling to move us to 32 in the 6th over. The partnership was broken when Riya was out to a smart catch and wickets fell steadily thereafter. Lulu, Emma and Siena were all bowled by good straight deliveries, while Calla was runout trying to move things along quickly. We were 48-5 after 11 overs and in danger of posting a fairly low total, but Marina and Megan steadied the ship with a sixth wicket partnership which moved us past 80. At one point Marina seemed to have been run-out, but the bowler had removed the bails with her hands rather than the ball. At this stage a score of 100 was starting to look possible, but in the 18th over Marina was run-out for the second and final time. Uma and Mia had the difficult job of scoring quickly off only a handful of deliveries, but still managed to get us to a creditable total of 89-7. The running between the wickets was quite a bit sharper than earlier in the season, and while this had resulted in a couple of run-outs it had played an important role in keeping the score ticking over.

This was certainly a defendable score and the girls were visibly buoyant, although the ground had a fairly short boundary which made me feel that Bushy Park were slight favourites. Right from the off Actonians put in a strong bowling and fielding performance, with everyone contributing with crucial stops . What was particularly pleasing was that they were all actively encouraging each other in the field and backing up more consistently than in previous games. Riya got three wickets in her first three overs, and with the score at 21-3 the game was now finely balanced.

Bushy recovered with their 4th wicket partnership, and at 48-3 in the tenth over the game was shifting back in their favour. It was now well past 7.30, and the cloud cover meant the light was fading to the extent that the scorers were struggling to identify the batters. In the 10th over the Bushy opener, and the games top scorer, lofted a delivery from Mia and Marina took what would have been a good catch even in normal light conditions. Tight bowling from Mia and Emma and some alert fielding meant that Bushy never got the high-scoring couple of overs which would have turned the game permanently in their favour. Siena kept wicket effectively, with solid help from Uma at backstop on the occasions the ball slipped past her, while Hala, Mia and Lulu made several important stops in the covers and mid-wicket area.

By the time the last bowling pair of Calla and Meghan began the last four overs, Bushy needed 21 to win off four overs with only three wickets left. Tensions were growing amongst the crowd and at this point a fine drizzle began. It’s not clear if the rain had a direct bearing on the game, but it certainly made it a lot harder to write entries onto the scoring sheet without ripping the paper.

Calla and Meghan closed the game out strongly, supported by consistent effort and concentration in the field. By the time the last over started Bushy needed 15 to win and the game was still just within their reach. Three dot balls from Meghan left Bushy Park needing snookers and Actonians won by ten runs. The parents watching from the side were finally able to relax.

No game is perfect and there is still plenty to work on, but this was a really pleasing performance and the girls were understandably delighted. They are to be congratulated for the quality of the bowling and the energy which they showed in the field, and also for holding their nerve in a tense finish. Bushy didn’t score more than seven in any over and we conceded only 4 wides and no balls. Three good catches and several smart pieces of fielding meant that Actonians kept the game from slipping away from them until the conditions moved in their favour in the last few overs.

Thank you

A big thanks to Keely for umpiring, to Rebecca, Natasha, and Simon who helped organise the team and to Emma’s Dad for his fetching and carrying at the start of the game. Thanks also to the parents who ferried their children there, and apologies that the journey was more difficult than it could have been. I hope you enjoyed it.

Last but not least, Bushy Park are to be thanked for allowing us to bat first and lending us a fielder, and for generally being welcoming hosts.

Actonians Cricket Club Under 14's Girls Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 7 wickets
0
89		        
Riya Patadia Caught  13
Siena Tracey Bowled  18
Emma Weel Bowled  1
Lulu Pagan-Walker Bowled  1
Calla Richardson Run out  6
Marina Collings Run out  12
Megan Cripps-Juster Not Out  9
Uma James Bowled  2
Mia Frost Not Out  0
Hala Kanaan  
A.N. Other  

Bushy Park Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.

Bushy Park Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
4w 13b  
for 7 wickets
17
79 (20.0 overs)		     
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Actonians Cricket Club Under 14's Girls Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Riya Patadia4.001735.674.25
Marina Collings4.001500.003.75
Emma Weel4.0010110.002.50
Mia Frost4.001535.003.75
Calla Richardson2.00500.002.50
Megan Cripps-Juster2.00400.002.00