Under 11 Rounders v St mary's

Belhaven 13.5           St Mary's 7.5

 Other photos to follow

With St Mary's winning the toss we were put into bat first.

In the first innings it was obvious that nerves were to the forefront. Izzy Baillie bravely ran to second post to score half a rounder. Nothing then happened until the twenty first ball when Mercedes Bannister gave us hope as she smacked the ball over the heads of the St Mary's girls. Jemima Black and Izzy Baillie soon became victims of good fielding by St Mary's as they were both out at first post. Silvie Hoyer Millar and Bibi Cuthbert were also unlucky not to score as they hit the ball confidently into a space but St Mary's were quick to react. With one minute remaining of the first innings things were looking a little desperate. However, Rosie Barnes, Polly Armstrong-Wilson and Mercedes Bannister all scored something to make our total look slightly more respectable. We ended our first innings on four rounders leaving us a lot to do to keep St Mary's below our total.

It was a great start to our innings of fielding as we stumped out the first batsman of St Mary's. Unfortunately it went downhill from there as we missed catches, overthrew the ball, panicked in the field and let our early mistakes get the better of us. St Mary's ended their innings on five rounders and worryingly looked the better team.

In the second innings we knew we needed to throw our nerves out of the window and start to play the type of rounders we were capable of doing. It was clear from the first couple of balls that the girls were on a mission. Mercedes Bannister and Emilia White led the rounders chase with the support of Polly Armstrong-Wilson and Jemima Black as they put on a powerful and gutsy display of batting. Between them they scored an impressive nine and a half rounders sending feelings of doubt through the St Mary's team.

We had just shown that we were capable of batting, now we had to do the same with our fielding. Nothing happened until the fifteenth ball when Emilia White took a superb catch. Rosie Barnes and Mercedes Bannister made sure the St Mary's girls were out at first if they missed the ball. Julia Tyndall, Polly Armstrong-Wilson and Izzy Baillie were very impressive as deeps as they read the play well, fielded the ball quickly and threw the ball accurately to the appropriate post. Jemima Black made sure no half rounders were scored and if any slipped through the net Cassie Roberts was stumping fourth post to stop them advancing. On the thirty second ball Matilda Laird put a stop to the innings of St Mary's as she fielded the ball and stumped her post.

 Rounders scored:

Emilia White: 3.5

Mercedes Bannister: 3.5

Polly Armstrong-Wilson: 2.5

Jemima Black: 2.5

Izzy Baillie: 0.5

Rosie Barnes:0.5

No balls: 0.5

Man of the Match: Mercedes Bannister and Polly Armstrong-Wilson