Corkley v Newcastle United, as dubbed by the players.
35 over women’s Knock out cup match, 1.30pm at Corbridge.
With the 11 aside premier league gone the 35 over games have turned into a knock out cup format with teams able to combine to field sides in the competition. Although 35 overs isn’t everyone cup of tea, it is good to be able to play a longer format of women’s cricket outside of county fixtures.
United won the toss and elected to bowl.
It was looking a little dicey at 1.15 with only 5 of our players on the ground however by start time (maybe a little later than 1.30) we were all present and accounted for, thankfully because having asked not to open (or bat at 3), it was looking like I might not get my wish as one of our openers was MIA finally Rachael “not the night” Gillott arrived on site, padded up and opened with Lisa.
With 11 fielders it was a very different feel and challenge from our 8 aside games, gaps in the field were filled and scoring wasn’t as easy. Gillott was looking in good touch though, timing the ball well and looking set for a big one.
As Lisa struggled to get going she started searching for runs, frustration got the better of her and she had a pull across the line to a straight one. Rhianna fresh from her good innings midweek looked to get herself settled in and get going but was cut short again playing across the line.
I found myself in far earlier than I would have liked although I was quite happy to play myself in taking on the bad ball and let Rach take on the scoring but when she was caught, it forced a change in mind set.
United were on top. We’d lost too many wickets too quickly and with an age still to bat it was time to grind it out for a while and make sure we batted all our overs. With Jen as company and continuing her good foam, we settled things down.
Some erratic bowling helped our cause but it was hard work and for me it was a case of batting long and sensibly. With a bit of swing around especially for Hilary, a point and a gully stationed, I put away the drive even though there was a lovely gap at mid off begging to thump the ball back down the ground, the fear was however that I would go at it too hard, with too much bottom hand and get caught as is fairly common, I preferred to wait until she went off line for the pull and picking up singles.
When Jen departed there were still plenty of overs left but we had succeeded in getting our innings back on an even keel. We now had wickets in hand, their best bowlers taken off so they could come back for the final 4 overs. The stage was set to push on, Jenny was the perfect batsman for the job and when she relaxed as the nerves quelled (Hilary coming off helped) she started to hit the ball hard and far, racking up the runs.
Around the 28 over mark the aim was for 130 the hope was closer to 150 and we started to put fielders under pressure taking on singles that I hadn’t been taking before (I didn’t want a run out when we were rebuilding and I openly admit to being a lazy runner anyway). I started taking on shots I had been stopping myself playing and just when I felt set to really go after the bowling I got a pitch and roll. I was looking to play to the legside, as soon as it pitched and died I knew I was done for, there was no way to get my bat down to defend it.
Jenny kept scoring, Rachel Foreman had a bash, Ellie Tiffin continuing her good form with the bat and timed the ball sweetly, Yves pushed the running between the wicket as she always does, turning 1’s into 2’s, and hitting some nice shots as well, the momentum was with us and we reached a creditable 144-7. Just over 4 an over is a decent scoring rate.
No ducks as everyone who batted contributed. I top scored with 36 (another 20+ overs for a score in the 30’s, unamused with myself) Jenny Wilkes’ 34 had a far better strike rate and was much more entertaining.
A great spread for tea. I find it really weird having tea mid match in a women’s game, years of weeknight match conditioning have taken their toll.
A good tactical discussion thwarted a little when the players we thought would be opening the batting weren’t but there was a plan and we stuck to it.
Rachael Douse to open from the rugby end started very well, bowling with good control. I opened the river end as we went with the pace from one end, spin from the other which had worked well at Gateshead midweek. As we picked up wickets and got into the middle order United were rocking. Hilary and Rachael Stillwell steadied them as we thought they would.
Rhianna found good, almost booming swing, combined with her pace it made her a real handful. Ellie, they again found hard to face, bowling a good line and length. 4 overs for only 6 runs certainly pushed their required rate up.
When Hilary was forced to retire hurt having fallen hard, tripping as she slid her bat on a tight run United’s chances were fading fast. The introduction of Yves firmly hammered down the nails in the coffin as their tail collapsed.
63-9 (27.1 overs). Corkley won by 81 runs.
It was an excellent team performance all round. Batting, bowling and we were good in the field. Glynnis Foreman had great reactions and football at short fine leg and Lisa made some great stops at leg slip too.
It was a good match, a really good win with some quality cricket played by both sides.
Next round for “Corkly” is verses Stocksfield who didn’t have to play as Penrith conceded.
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