Rowledge 129/9 off 40 overs
Shepperton 59 all out off 22.5 overs

Rowledge Ladies made it three wins in a row, beating Shepperton III by 70 runs.

On a damp Shepperton pitch, both sides were looking to put in the opposition to bat, because the damp outfield from the previous night's heavy rain was slowing the ball down considerably, making scoring difficult. Rowledge lost the toss and were thus put in to bat. Scoring was made even more difficult by the erratic nature of the pitch, with several shots going in the air. Shepperton made an early breakthrough in the third over when Rowledge opener Rachel Hillman was caught at mid-on by teenager Sophie Fry in her first match for Shepperton. Another wicket fell in the fifth over, leaving Rowledge on 8/2. Thanks to a generous number of wides conceded by the Shepperton bowlers, Pauline Baker and Katie Forward put on 27 runs for the third wicket, and were looking settled for a long partnership when Katie called Pauline for a quick single off a no-ball, and Pauline was run out. Shortly after this, Katie edged at a high ball and was also caught by Sophie Fry. Further Rowledge batters also struggled to score runs, and wickets fell regularly, leaving Rowledge struggling at 71/7 in the 25th over. Shortly after this, rain stopped play for 20 minutes, making the outfield even slower and the pitch even more erratic. On resumption, the eighth wicket pair of Helen Kinal (7 not out) and Sharon Watson (11) patiently defended for 15 overs, watching the score accumulate thanks to a large number of wides, no-balls and byes. This valuable partnership yielded 57 runs, even though only 18 of these were scored off the bat. Sharon Watson was caught driving with 2 balls to go, and although another wicket fell next ball, Rowledge managed to prevent Shepperton from bowling them out and earning extra bonus points. Rowledge were happy with their score of 129 given the difficult conditions, and were especially grateful at the number of extras given away by the opposition, which accounted for more than half of their total.

Rowledge made an early breakthrough in the second over of Shepperton's reply when an excellent throw from Sophie Cooper to wicketkeeper Jackie Rice resulted in a run-out. However, Shepperton's second wicket pair of Rachel Holmes (15) and Chloe Russell (9) began to score freely in a partnership of 32, and were looking threatening. A change of bowling by Rowledge brought on Sarah Messham, who made the critical breakthrough by bowling both of them in successive overs. A third wicket for Sarah in her next over then put Rowledge well in control with the opposition now 44/4. Katie Forward and Rachel Hillman then bowled very accurately, and the Shepperton scoring dried up. Rachel then took two wickets in successive balls to reduce Shepperton to 53/8, and then Katie also took two wickets in an over to wrap up the tail-enders, leaving Shepperton all out for 59 and Rowledge the victors by 70 runs.


Rowledge points: 12 for win, 3.23 batting points, 7 bowling points


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