On a beautiful sunny Father's Day, Falkland U15 Girls took to the road to take on Goring-on-Thames at the Oratory School.
Winning the toss, captain Ava had no hesitation in asking the home side to take to the field. The decision was vindicated from the off with Ava and Immi into the runs from the very first over. Both girls played some excellent shots peppering the boundary on a sloping pitch where 1s and 4s were the primary currency. With both openers reaching mandatory retirement at 30, Kira and Darcey came to the crease to continue the onslaught. Both girls continued to launch the ball to the boundary.
As Kira reached retirement on 32* and Darcey still at the crease, the Goring team continued to search for wickets. The breakthrough came as Elliot bowled Louise (7) with the score on 168. As Darcey left the crease retiring on 33*, Elliot dramatically turned the game picking up a hat-trick, reducing the Falkland team to 183-4. With 2 overs to go, and Milla (11*) and Sienna (2) at the crease, the pressure was back on Falkland. Both girls did very well to keep the score moving forwards to 192-5 at the end of the 20 overs. A daunting total for the Goring boys to chase down.
Opening the bowling with a challenging mixture of pace and spin, Alexa (0-16) and Anabel (0-22) set the tone for the 2nd innings. Miserly bowling and sublime fielding restricted the Goring openers who quickly fell behind the required run rate. With the combination of pace and spin working, Sienna (0-7) and Ruthie (0-16) continued to pile the pressure on the Goring team. Runs were becoming harder to find for the home team.
Milla (0-12) and Immi (2-13) continued the pace/spin attack with Immi making the breakthrough in the 10th over. A brilliant catch from Ruthie and a sharp stumping from Ava in the same over saw Goring stumble to 56-2. Captain Ava decided that this was the time to strike and bring on the all-out pace attack of Kira (1-3) and Louise (0-3). Both girls bowling fast and straight proved too much for the Goring team and the run chase slowed almost to a stop.
The Falkland fielding was excellent with Alexa, Louise, Ruthie and Darcey pulling off some excellent saves. With Darcey (0-14) taking over the bowling in the 16th over and the return of the spin of Anabel and Ruthie, the game swiftly went beyond the reach of the Goring batters who finished their innings on 111-3.
A wonderful game of cricket played in the best of spirits between two very good sides. The Girls U15 remain unbeaten this season and look to continue their success as they return to action in the Girls League next time out.