Girls development team have fun in the sunshine

GWC 164 (82-6) beat Carlton 156 (77-7) by 8 runs

On a warm, sun-filled evening, the Carlton Girls Team played George Watson’s College in a friendly, development game at Craiglockhart. With Watsons having an abundance of players, the teams were balanced out to play a 12-a-side pairs game: 24 overs per innings, four overs per pair, minus three runs for a wicket, start on 100 runs.

It was agreed that Watson’s would bat first, so Carlton took the field, with Zaara keeping for the first half of the innings. Caitlin and Gabby opened the bowling and started off excellently. They took a wicket each, both bowled, leaving the score on 108 (14-2) after the first pair of batters.

The next Carlton bowler was Alice, who also picked up a wicket herself, again bowled. After the second pair the score was 117 (29-4), the fourth wicket being a good run out. It was Holly and Eliza who bowled at the next two pairs, and they both bowled well. At half way through the innings there was a change of wicket keepers, with Gabby taking the gloves.

Zaara and Eliza bowled next, at the fifth pair of Watson’s batters. Zaara bowled off spin at the less experienced batsmen, while Eliza bowled tightly as well. 156 (74-6) was the score with four overs to go. Saskia was the final Carton bowler, and she bowled her two overs very tightly, leaving the final Watsons score as 168 (86-6). All 12 Carlton bowlers bowled two overs each, and all bowled very well.

With 169 the target, Holly and Caitlin opened the batting to start the chase off. They did well to negotiate the Watson’s excellent opening bowling, losing one wicket in their four overs together, leaving the score at 101 (4-1) after four overs. The next two pairs were the four loaned Watson’s girls, who all batted well and carefully in the face of accurate bowling.

Next into bat was Saskia and Eliza, who looked to up the scoring rate. They achieved this, with good running combined with Saskia hitting the first, second and third fours of the match! With 8 overs to go the score was 131 (49-6), trailing Watson’s by 37.

With the fifth pair of Charlotte and Zaara now in, Watson’s brought back their opening bowlers for another two overs each. The two Carlton girls batted well together in the face of some fast bowling, both hitting some lovely shots.

When the final pair of Alice and Gabby went into bat, the score was 144 (62-6), 24 runs behind Watson’s total. The pair batted well trying to chase down the target, running well together, however the return of the senior Watson’s bowlers meant that the target was just out of reach.

Carlton finished on 156 (77-7), meaning Watson’s finished ahead by 8 runs. As it was a development match, this result was secondary to the progress the girls made with their skills and match awareness, as well as the fun they had! Many thanks to Watson’s for the enjoyable game and for hosting us, a great time was had by all.

Angus Beattie