Wednesday evening saw KL host Hertford in the Hertfordshire Women’s Cricket League Softball division. With Hertford on 8 points in the League and KL on 12 going into the match, this was a top of the table clash, the result of which could prove pivotal for the overall League result.
Kings Langley won the toss and opted to bat first at our home ground. Previous matches have seen KL put on a good score with the bat to pressure our opponents, and Katie S and Dee were put in as the opening partnership. They didn’t disappoint, and despite the Kings Langley boundary being rather longer than the one at Hitchin, Katie S again demonstrated her knack of finding the gaps in the field, hitting a huge 7 fours off 14 balls. The partnership put on a solid 46 to put KL in a strong position after 4 overs, allowing the rest of the order to take it steadily in the very warm conditions.
Kings Langley faced some good tight bowling from the visitors, including the dismissal of skipper Katie Ellingham first ball with a plum delivery straight to middle stump. The match result was never a foregone conclusion with some strong performances with the ball by Hertford keeping KL in check.
Nonetheless, Kings Langley ended their innings with a total of 122/4 (net score of 302), maintaining the team’s track record of scoring over 300 and keeping wickets to a minimum.
With the sun lowering on the Common making fielding tricky, Hertford’s opening pair managed to find the boundary a couple of times before Dee bagged the first wicket of the match on the last ball of her first over.
Two balls later Lauren took the second wicket with her second ball to keep the pressure on the visitors. Dee nearly had her first maiden over in the 8th but it wasn’t to be with the opposition managing to sneak a run. Aliyah once again impressed with the ball and having found the stumps twice in succession, KL had high hopes for the hat trick ball, but it went past the keeper allowing the visitors the chance to add to their total.
A wicket haul of 8, spread throughout the bowling order, kept the visitors’ total down. Notably, Dee and Lauren each bowled someone out for the first time and April took a wicket with her first ball. Good work, ladies!
A good show of teamwork in the field supporting the tight bowling from Kings curtailed the visitors and Hertford ended their innings on 91/8 (net score 251) meaning that Kings Langley won the match by a comfortable 51 runs and maintain the top spot in the League.