Monday evening saw Falkland U16s take on a tough Ropley side at Dummer. Captain Izzy won the toss and elected to bat first, which was nice to see, as we usually decide to chase scores.

Lucy and Izzy opened the batting. Lucy faced the first over and looked good picking up a run a ball from the first 4 balls. The first ball of the second over saw the first wicket, as Lucy missed a straight one and was heading back to be replaced by Grace.

Grace and Izzy batted beautifully and started to take the game away from Ropley. They put on a 50 run partnership, with both girls attacking the wide balls while playing down the straight ones. Izzy was next to fall, she picked out Ropley's best fielder who took a nice catch, and Izzy was out for 14 runs.

Eleanor joined Grace, hitting her first ball for a nice one, she then attempted a quick run, but was given out, adjudged to be just short of the crease. Isabelle was next in, and as usual looked solid at the crease. Grace reached her retirement score of 25 with a great straight 6. This meant that Isla and Isabelle had to face the final two overs. They did well, adding an important eight runs, before Isla was run out, trying to run on the final delivery.

Falkland had posted a challenging 87 runs. For Ropley to win they would need to bat well against a strong Falkland bowling attack.

Lucy opened the bowling with a wonderful maiden over. Isla, playing in her first indoor match, started off with a couple of no balls, but then found her range and caused the batters problems. Izzy bowled the third over and again made scoring runs hard, only conceding two runs from her over. Ropley were already way behind the run rate, with only three overs gone.

Eleanor, Grace and Lucy’s second over all went by in the blink of an eye, all the girls were bowling well, and the Ropley batters couldn’t get the ball away. The first wicket fell in the 7th over, Isla found the edge of the batters bat and Isabelle took a smart catch behind the stumps.

Eleanor picked up her first wicket. Bowling a ball too fast for the batter, who got an inside edge onto the stumps. Izzy then came back on for her final over, she too bowled a ball too good for the batter, sending the stumps to the floor. Both Lucy and Izzy finished with economical figures conceding just 10 runs from their 3 overs.

Ropley finished 17 runs short on 70 for 3.

Once again this was a strong ‘Team’ performance, the fielding was fantastic, with the girls making sure that the ball would not hit the walls. There was a good batting partnership, and they bowled as a unit. This was their seventh win in eight matches, giving them a 14 point lead at the top of the league.

Thank you again for all the support from the sidelines!