U15 Girls Cricketers Best in the South West!

We are thrilled for our U15 Girls who are best in the South West and through to the National T20 finals following an exciting match against Bradfield College on Saturday 17th June.

Director of Sport and Physical Wellbeing Tony Diprose takes up the match story:

On a muggy afternoon away at Bradfield College the Canford U15 Girls cricketers won an absorbing contest against the hosts in the Schoolsports Magazine National T20 to go through to Finals day, which will take place in September.

Bradfield won the toss and elected to bat first but were soon under pressure as Poppy W removed two of their top three batters in the first three balls to leave them reeling at 0-2. The quality of the host side meant that a fightback was likely, and it came in a 3^rd wicket partnership of 85 which put the Canford girls under pressure in the field. The bowlers were tending to overpitch the ball, but Captain Izzy R kept making the changes and that paid off with Annabel R making the breakthrough whilst bowling an accurate tight spell. This was backed up by some excellent bowling from the captain herself and also an amazing catch by Annabel which accounted for the Bradfield opener who had hit an excellent 57 off of 47 balls. At one stage it looked like a total of 120ish would be set but the hosts took advantage a few slips in the field late on to post a strong total of 144 for the loss of 7 wickets.

Not an easy get but the Canford reply started in a positive fashion with Izzy looking in great touch. Unfortunately, she fell for a well-made 17 to a ball that rose sharply, and her wicket was also followed by that of Emily VS which brought together the first of two hugely important partnerships for the Canford girls. Poppy W played the major role in both firstly with Daisy T who made 14 and secondly with Penny D. Poppy played some fantastic shots which took the game away from the home team and when she departed for 47 off 39 balls Canford needed just 9 more with 16 balls left. That wicket did cause some nerves to spread through the lower middle order and both Alice L and Ruby H fell in quick succession as they chased the winning runs and Bradfield's best bowler returned. Caitlin W joined Penny D who had kept her composure through this period and 4 were needed off the last over. A wide, followed by a scrambled bye brought Penny D back on strike with 2 needed. She finished with a flourish as she clipped a low full toss down to fine leg for four, ending 28no and finishing the match with three balls to spare.

A great game and another step forward for Canford's young female cricketers ending the day as the best in the Southwest and looking forward to the challenge from the North, Midlands and the Southeast later in the year