Night one of the Middlesex Women’s Indoor League at Laurel Park School was a huge success and great fun that saw lots of wickets, runs and some spectacular pieces of fielding; a great advert for the women’s club game.
Stanmore, Gunnersbury and Stoke Newington are the teams that have registered to compete over the next three weeks, with the league giving those teams the opportunity to add to their existing winter offering alongside their individual club training sessions.
Gunnersbury, playing the first fixtures of their centenary year were up first and chose to bowl first after winning the toss. Stoke Newington got off to a decent start registering 24 runs for their first pair off three overs, however, Gunnersbury took a hold on the game through the middle of the innings with wickets pegging Stoke Newington back repeatedly.
The disciplined Gunnersbury fielding effort, backed up by an excellent direct hit and some good catching, meant that Stoke Newington were only able to score 47 from their nine overs. In reply, Gunnersbury started well and were ahead going into the last pair, however, with the -5 for a wicket format, the fielding side were never out of it and when the final over started with two wickets from the first three balls and SNCC had a chance, albeit a very outside one, of pulling off the win. It wasn’t to be though as the young Gunnersbury duo steered their team to victory by 16 runs.
It was a quick turnaround for Stoke Newington as they faced Stanmore in the second game of the night and they opted to bat first this time as they quickly put to bed the errors from their first game to post 117 from their 9 overs. Some good running between the wickets and hitting the gaps regularly showcased a much better batting from Stoke Newington who were made to pay in their first game for their wickets lost early in the overs. In reply, Stanmore made a credible 43, that could easily have been in the 50s but for a calamitous eighth over where three wickets were lost but deserve immense credit for their efforts in what was their first-ever game of indoor cricket.
The final game of the night saw Gunnersbury return to the pitch to play Stanmore. Batting first, Gunnersbury, similarly to Stoke Newington, were intent on going way past their score in the opening game and struck 129 from their innings that included the only six and only run two of the innings as they showed their experience. Once again though, Stanmore kept trying and managed to peg Gunnersbury back with the odd wicket here and there, and although Stanmore lost less wickets in their game, they were outdone by the accuracy of the Gunnersbury bowlers and field placings as they only scored 24 from their nine overs.
An enjoyable night was had by all though and each side will no doubt be thinking about the ways that they can improve going into night two next week!
The upcoming fixtures are:
Monday 27th January
6pm – Stoke Newington v Stanmore
7pm – Stanmore v Gunnersbury
8pm – Gunnersbury v Stoke Newington
Monday 3rd February
6pm – Stanmore v Gunnersbury
7pm – Gunnersbury v Stoke Newington
8pm – Stoke Newington v Stanmore
