Seeking a third consecutive win, the W10 ladies travelled to Hambledon CC on a cool and blustery evening. Electing to field, captain Alison Furse, started proceedings with a consistent over that led to a third ball run out, thanks to the reliable fielding of Helen Klemm. This was a sign of good things to come as Petersfield showed great commitment and reliability in the field; a noticeable feature of this year’s performances.
Hambledon’s opening pair steadily accumulated runs with several boundaries from the bat of Jo Dallas, resulting in a 33 run partnership. Some excellent tight bowling from Petersfield followed limiting the next 2 partnerships to 10 and 5 runs respectively. Some noticeable fielding from Claire Wright, forward off square and Sophie Beacham and Rachel Martel backward off square diving full length on occasions to stop the ball inside the boundary rope. Further run outs, a hit wicket off the bowling of Sarah Moss and sharp catches from Beth Svarovska off Wright and Charlie Hawkes, behind the stumps off Klemm, continued to limited the Hambledon score, but some fine stroke play from Amy Hutchings saw the last pair add 37 runs, taking Hambledon to a respectable 305.
A watchful start to the Petersfield innings from Annabel Ryan and Beth Svarovska, provided a nice platform of 24 runs for the first partnership without the loss of any wickets. Sarah Moss and Helen Klemm continued in a similar controlled vein, giving few chances to the Hambledon fielders and pushing the score along nicely. Petersfield’s innings started to accelerate, with some explosive shots from Charlie Hawkes and Georgina Robinson, including a powerful six from Robinson, keeping Field well on course for the target. Rachel Martel and Sophie Beacham played nicely as the score continued to climb; a slight question mark over a powerful Martel shot, which appeared to rebound off the boundary rope, but not signalled by the close Hambledon fielders resulted in only 2 runs scored and a really unfortunate direct hit on a second run, meant the loss of Field’s first wicket. The final pair of Alison Furse and Claire Wright came to the wicket needing 17 for victory, but faced 2 overs from each of Hambledon’s best bowlers, Dallas and Hutchings. Reaching 304 at the start of the final over, with all results possible, it felt as though Field would get the 2 runs they needed to get over the winning line, but to her credit, Dallas produced 6 fast and straight deliveries, to concede a single run from the final over and bring a thrilling match to a tie. There were lots of positives to take from this performance as Field showed a mature performance across all aspects of the game and can build on this momentum for the next fixture.