HWCC U13 Girls Hurricanes beat Overton CC by 83 runs

Sunday morning and our first ever away visit to Overton CC, who this season are fielding an U13 girls team for the first time - so just looking to enjoy themselves as they get cricketing experience. A day which saw sun, rain, wind and the relentless ringing of church bells, plus at least two of our girls calling for a review of the laws of the game! It was one of those days...

The Hurricanes team consisted of Evie, Lauren (captain and WK2), Clara, Skye (WK1), Isla C, Lara and Isla G. Seven a side for both teams meant 16 overs for each innings. We won the toss and elected to bat first.

A strong opening partnership of Evie and Lauren saw some early boundaries from both girls, with Clara and Skye then adding to the score. Isla C hit a fantastic 11 runs and Lara followed with 16, then Isla G came in last. We conceded four wickets in total, all straight bowled, with two in particular causing consternation in the team as they argued with the umpire (me) about whether a ball that bounces twice should have been called as a No Ball (it shouldn't). So here, just for fun, is the relevant section of the U13G Rules:

"No Balls: A delivery can bounce twice before the ball reaches the popping crease."

Needless to say, my excuse of "this is in the rules" was considered totally unacceptable, but once we'd agreed to write to the president of the ICC, we were able to grudgingly move on. Lauren, Clara and Isla C all had the opportunity to come back into bat (having earlier retired not out), with Lauren finishing the game on a brilliant 28 not out including 4 fours. Hartley Wintney had posted a huge score of 147 for 4.

Next it was Overton's turn to bat. Earlier in the season we bowled them all out quickly, but they have been practising hard and really stuck to the task today. Evie was able to take a wicket with her bowling in the sixth over, while Lara took another in the seventh, with the very next ball then a run out to complete an astounding maiden over with two wickets taken. Lara's bowling continues to scare us all. The fourth wicket fell in the tenth over to Isla C's bowling, then another run out in the same over to leave them with just two batters left. But after that, they were resolute in defending their wickets and held on to the end.

Special shouts to Clara who also bowled a maiden over, and to both of the Coker twins who had an excellent all round game with both bat and ball, with Isla C involved in getting both run outs while Skye did a great job at wicket keeper. However, at times our fielding was particularly shoddy, including a comical moment when two overthrows resulted in Overton getting FIVE wides from one ball. Chris Long would have been in tears if he'd been there.

But overall a GREAT team performance to restrict Overton to just 64 runs (of which 48 were extras - this is where we need to focus in training). The match was played with an incredible spirit and friendliness between both teams... and at least for a few days, the Hurricanes are back at the top of the league!