Match report by Mark Austin
The Women’s Indoor League concluded today with us knowing our fate even before we played Eynsham as the Moreton Girls (all U16 and County players) smashed Thame which also meant we were guaranteed to finish 2nd, a great achievement. The bar has now been set high for our Men’s Indoor teams to beat that in their campaign.
Katie Cross won the toss and elected to field. Their 1st two pairs put on a credible 79 in 8 overs which included 15 wides (at 2 runs apiece) albeit for the loss of 4 wickets. At this point I thought they’d get 120 runs off the bat but those wickets would be crucial. However, their final pair struggled against some great bowling only managing 22, and taking them to 101 for 5 wickets (costing 25 runs). There was a great catch at point from Lucy Griffiths, a couple of run outs and a fantastic 2 over spell of 3 wickets for 9 runs by our loanee, Georgia from Deddington. Katie, Bethany Bidwell and Lucy also deserve recognition especially to control that final pair. Notably Eynsham only hit the back wall twice too.
In reply, Zoe Pugh and Lucy put on 47 in their 4 overs without losing a wicket which set the tone and gave us a great start. Karen Cross batted with Georgia next and the score ticked along nicely with another 46 runs added and, despite losing a couple of wickets, we were ahead of the required score. Stupidly, I then told Beth & Katie the situation beforetheir innings, I.e keep your wicket safe, which meant they were overly cautious and didn’t bat in their usual free flowing style. They managed to add a further 20 runs though but were unlucky to lose 3 wickets including a catch which seemed to be juggled for an eternity and stopped a certain maximum score. Anyway, we scored 113 runs for the loss of 5 wickets too, including three 6’s and a couple of 4’s, thus winning by 12 runs.
Another great result and which cemented our deserved 2nd place in the league (see attachment). I am truly proud and impressed with everyone who has played for us efforts during the past couple of months, especially how they’ve supported one another and also the camaraderie between teams – the spirit of cricket was clearly evident. We have a great bunch of Ladies at Banbury who will grow in strength from here. I cannot wait for the outdoor seasons to start and have the feeling it will be a good year for Banbury Ladies