A winning start to the league season!
The return of league cricket saw the Women’s 1st XI travel to The Mote CC Women’s 2nd XI. Regardless of availability challenges (a huge thank you to Charlotte and Anuhya for stepping up to make their debuts!), confidence was high amongst the team fresh off the back of victory against Sevenoaks Vine.
With the Mote stepping up from the Kent Women’s Development League and Hayes dropping down from the Premier League, there was a lot of chat pre-toss about the potential mismatch between the two sides. However, captain Hainsworth wasn’t going to be drawn in with the mind games.
The Mote opted to bat first on a flat deck after Hayes lost the toss and made a steady start; successfully navigating our opening attack of Issy and Megan. Utkarsha then entered the frame, bowling tight lines which eventually brought about the first wicket – a well taken caught and bowled! Further resistance from the top order frustrated the Hayes bowlers and saw the score rise to over 100 (we won’t talk about how many of those were extras!).
A pivotal bowling change post drinks saw the ball thrown to Aanya who caused chaos with her spin. Firstly, removing the anchor of the Motes’ innings, L Balderstone (48) thanks to a sharp stumping by Chelsey (a true allrounder!) followed by the middle order – finishing with figures of 4-23 off 6 overs. Only missing out on a 5-fer due to losing her glasses while trying to take a catch!
The damage had been done, and it was left to Emily (2-10 off 2 overs), Anuhya and Etika to ably support in the later overs and see us through to the close with the Mote finishing 158-7 off their 30 overs. Extras finishing as top scorer on 54…
After tea, the Hayes openers knew there was still a job to be done and that chasing 159 was by no means a given. With memories of the 2023 Kent Premier League title winning run chase fresh in her mind, Chelsey set about chasing the total down as quickly as possible – racing to 25 off 19 balls before being adjudged LBW.
Beth joined the skipper at the crease looking to pick up where she left off against Sevenoaks Vine. From 37-1, the pair put on a partnership of 123 to chase down the target with relative ease reaching 160-1 off 19.3 overs. Zoe leading from the front, remaining unbeaten on 59 runs off 64 balls, while Beth ably supported with a quickfire 53 not out from 42 balls – launching a huge 6 in the process.
Overall, a dominant all round team performance being rewarded with a comprehensive 9-wicket victory and a valuable 33 points (don’t ask me how the points work!). The perfect start to our journey back to the prem!
Key performances:
Next Match:
