Ladies Go Close With Solid Performance

Having managed to purloin the pitch at Drapers from the Colts due to the Prom being unplayable, Maldon Ladies turned up with nearly a full team. 

Chelmsford Willows won the toss and decided to bat first. Opening bowlers Pugh (just returned from injury) and Thornett bowled well despite the sometimes-gusty conditions, finishing with figures of 0-24 and 1-30, respectively. Field and Herron then took over, with Field taking her first ever wicket and finishing on 1-19 off 4. At 10 overs, Walton took over the wicketkeeping, freeing up Bailey to do some bowling. The latter took 2 wickets in her first couple of overs– with one bouncing off the top of the stumps into Walton’s throat! – and partnered with a number of others to restrict Willows’ run-rate. Unfortunately, Willows had a strong batting line-up, with a number of balls trickling away for 4 down the leg-side. Bailey took a wicket off the last ball, with Little taking her first ever catch. Willows finished 151-5.

Welton was then moved up the batting order from number 5 to number 2 – being under time pressure due to her hockey presentation evening – and performed excellently, with three 4s including a lovely straight drive. Shortly after the quick opening bowlers stopped, slower full-pitch deliveries resulted in wickets, with Walton out for 6 and Welton finishing on 15. Herron batted really well again, with another two lovely 4s, but was trapped LBW for 16.

Unfortunately, Bailey had to retire hurt almost immediately due to a quick full toss hitting her on the wrist. We are hoping for a full recovery for next Friday’s match! The quick bowlers were brought back on at the end, but Huntington and Little were able to keep them from taking more wickets. The inexperience of the team did show again, with Maldon only finishing on 61-4, but there were some much improved batting and bowling performances this week.

Feeling rather battered and bruised, the ladies retreated to the clubhouse, where Club President John Hill had kindly left some money behind the bar for drinks. Additionally, many thanks go to Jas for umpiring and Toby for scoring.