Last season the ladies travelled to Overton only to lose by an agonising one run. This year, that result was well and truly put to bed with their best performance of the season earning a well-deserved victory.
Jenny won the toss and again put the opposition into bat. Due a mixture of injuries and holidays, the Oakley line-up included 3 players making their first appearances, bringing a mixture of youth and experience to the team.
Incredibly, Lucy clean bowled the opening batter with the second delivery of the match for the third game in a row. The team then grabbed another wicket in the second over when some kamikaze running offered an easy run out chance. Eve also got in the action with a very rare wicket maiden as Jenny nabbed a catch behind the stumps, with the opening pair only able to muster 2 runs.
Unfortunately for Overton the next pair struggled to swing the momentum, and when Bex B grabbed another wicket in the 5th over, the scoreboard showed an ominous 1 run from 5 overs. A couple of fours followed in the following over to tick the board over, but Eve then countered with just a single allowed in the 7th, before Brenda took her very first wicket, with Orlagh taking an excellent catch on her debut.
The third pair did score a little more freely though, despite Lucy taking her second wicket of the match, and Jenny her third catch, The fourth pair started slowly, partly due to a tidy over from Evie, also making her debut. Unfortunately though a few misfields though led to a few boundaries being scored, leaving Overton on 80 from their first 16.
The final pair looked to get the score up to 100 to put some psychological pressure on Oakley’s batters. But while they made the right start, Eve continued her excellent run of bowling form by grabbing herself two wickets in two balls to turn the screw as Overton finished on 91.
Bex B and Lucy came to the crease to get the run chase going. Bex B relished her chance at the top of the order, smashing her way to 31 runs to equal the team’s highest individual score that she already holds. Sarah and Hannah, the third debutant, came out with 47 already on the board determined to take as big a chunk out of the score as possible and make life easier for the rest of the team. Sarah helped herself to 17 runs in a single over to keep the fielders busy as the scoreboard showed 78 from 8 overs, and Oakley needing just 14 from the final 12 overs to take the victory.
Gemma then got herself in on the action as she set her own personal best of 20, leaving Oakley comfortably ahead, and crucially giving the remaining batters a bit of freedom to score as many as they could. This was further helped by two dropped catches in two overs. Some generous bowling kept the scoreboard moving for the final two pairs and despite Orlagh becoming Overton’s only wicket of the afternoon in the 18th over, the result was never really in doubt.
Overall, a really strong team performance peppered with moments of individual quality and Overton sit with 3 wins from 5.
Overton – 291-8
Oakley – 347-1
Oakley win by 56 runs
POM – Bex B (below)
