A colder than (I) anticipated morning at Rothamstead saw the u13's host local rivals Old Albanians. This was a top of the table clash between two undefeated teams, both of who have improved hugely over the last 12 months.

We lost the toss and were asked to set a total by the opposition captain, as usual the messages were to be aggressive, run hard and call clearly.
The first pair of Bea and Daisy took this advice on very well, running really hard and putting the fielders under huge pressure. We lost a couple of wickets but put on 35 runs, with Bea striking at 120. Asha and Olivia continued the good work , with OA's bowling somewhat erratic meaning that there were plenty of byes and wides to add to the score. Milly and Annabelle faced more of the same with the bowling letting OA's down somewhat. Amongst it Milly coping a nasty blow on the gloves from one of the quicker bowlers. Esme and Chloe finished the innings off and despite facing the strongest bowlers that OA's could offer they both batted superbly, with Esme inches away from the first 6 of the season! We set a season high total of 289, the aggression of the running between the wickets , combined with good patience and strong shot-making really set us up for such an impressive total.

Olivia who was feeling under the weather so bowled out 3 of the first 6 overs, and despite clearly not being 100% was able to keep a good line and length. Asha kept the field really tight meaning the first three OA's pairs really struggled to get the scoreboard moving at all, and the obvious point of difference was the consistency of the Huskies bowling - far fewer extras conceded meant that OA's were always behind the rate. Annabelle bowled a superb spell picking up 3 wickets for just 6 runs, with her pace up from her previous appearance. Whilst there were also wickets for Asha, and Chloe who bowled some near unplayable deliveries at serious pace. All the Huskies bowlers were accurate and the fielding was very sharp, Bea picked up two stumpings, with some aware keeping and continues to keep the batters under pressure by standing up to most of our bowlers.

Chloe picked up opposition player of the match for a strong all round showing, but all the Huskies contributed to a resounding win by 38 runs. Thanks to all the parents who came down to support , to Tarz for scoring and most of all to the girls who continue to show such commitment and enthusiasm each game.