This weekend involved a lot of traveling to pitches "far, far... away" (Shrek style!). We didn't let that defeat our energy levels, though—every match was intense and full of high-level energy!
Match 1: Stanmore CC
It was a slow start getting runs, as two wickets fell in the first over. Nat and Pooja did their best, given that a "qualified 13-year-older umpire" allowed a rolling ball to be classified as bowled...
Devki hit a beautiful 4, and Shika took some quick singles to get the score back over 200. We still had a lot of work to do to set a good target for Stanmore to beat.
Geetika and Piumi combined to get 20 off the bat, including a stunning 6 from Geetika—which may or may not have landed in a neighbor's garden (something we all expected the second we saw our pitch!). To finish off the innings, Meeni and Yo chipped in with cheeky singles and a boundary, bringing the score to 239 (including the three wickets lost).
In the field, Geetika got a wicket in her second over, bringing the scores even. Devki bowled exceptionally well, though Stanmore managed a few singles. Yo ruined what could have been a maiden over by bowling a wide, but still restricted them. Yet again... the scores were TIED!
Nat bowled a great over, conceding fewer runs than the number of legal balls bowled to squash their run rate. It worked! Despite a few wides in Geetika’s next over, we were up by 11.
To finish, Pooja bowled the penultimate over. Stanmore knew they needed a miracle; they managed a few runs and got DANGEROUSLY CLOSE to our net score.
Stanmore were sitting at 231—needing only 8 to win. Yo bowled four dots and took a wicket on the final ball, definitely smiling all the way back to her mark knowing it was now mathematically impossible for them to win.
Match 2: South Hampstead
After that victory, spirits were high! We ended up batting first again. To save time because the festival was running behind schedule, overs were shortened to 5 balls each.
South Hampstead opened with some strong bowlers, and our opening pair, Pooja and Nat, struggled slightly—which was completely understandable against their best attack.
Devki and Shika ran into a similar issue as their top bowlers returned, resulting in mostly dot balls. However, there was some great running between the wickets from this pair; they took advantage of every legal delivery by snatching quick singles and leaving the wides. They managed 12 runs off 10 balls without losing a wicket.
Geetika and Piumi went all in, smashing five 4s across two overs—including another ball into a neighbor's garden! Sadly, a wicket fell, but given the volume of runs scored, we were well in the clear for a potential win.
Yo and Nat batted last against another of their top bowlers, managing a few 2s, leaving the wides, and keeping all wickets intact. This brought the total to 241.
Defending the total, Geetika bowled almost a maiden over, conceding just 1 run. Devki then had an amazing over—finally securing a proper maiden combined with a wicket via a brilliant caught-and-bowled off her own bowling!
Nat and Pooja did a fantastic job in the next two overs, conceding fewer than 10 runs combined and keeping South Hampstead at 205 halfway through the match.
Geetika and Yo then picked up a wicket each while keeping things economical, leaving the opposition back at 200 with only one pair left to bat. The win was in the bag (Muahaha!).
Piumi and Devki finished the match off strong. Hampstead’s best bowler came out to bat and managed two 4s, but otherwise faced a barrage of dot balls. That left the final margin at a comfortable 26-run win for us!
Match 3: Actonians
After some food and rest, we played our final game against Actonians—and, once again, we batted first.
Yo awarded herself "Asshole of the Tournament" after being—to quote Devki—on a "different level of pissed off." The umpires for Actonians tried to hurry Yo up despite her taking under 3 minutes to face the first ball. Law 40, ladies—look it up! We may need to cite that one again in the future...
Nat got her first-ever wicket, and it came against a left-handed batter! Without the full scorecard available, this part of the report is a bit harder to write—a lot happened, even if we can't remember every exact detail!
It was an intense game, as some players were feeling tired, hungry, and ready to head home. But not us! We pushed through, even with the main umpire complaining. Despite a few people being a bit snarky and stressed toward us, it only fueled our desire to win even more. We had a perfect record, and we weren't about to lose it now.
We had Benji, a 7-year-old boy join as a substitute fielder. He was so cute and very welcome! He almost took a blinding catch near the bowler's end and helped break tension between the teams.
Once we were fielding, we were totally locked in. Shika bowled an incredible over and stopped so many boundary runs—what an absolute legend. Piumi’s wicketkeeping ability only keeps getting better, too; barely anything got past her. I think she's locked that job down for good!
At the end of the day, we won comfortably against Actonians, walking away with three more wins under our belt—and leaving a very happy Max enjoying his day off somewhere!
Yolanda Mackie