Cricket coalition come close second

Cricket, cupcakes and comedy – who could ask for more on a glorious Bank Holiday? For those of you weren’t chained to your desks revising, you’ll remember that Good Friday was like the perfect English summer’s day. With the clear blue skies, sun beating down and public deciding ‘less is more’ when choosing their outfit for the day – one could have mistaken this to be in the height of summer.

Imperial women’s cricket team were lucky to be invited to join forces with Hampstead women’s cricket club, in their inaugural 6-a-side tournament. Little did we know that we had been welcomed into the arms of celebrities, with Jim Carter (actor) as Chairperson of the Hampstead CC and acting as master of the ceremony for the day.

Imperial took a squad of 5 players to the sun drenched ground in Hampstead, ready to face women’s teams from all over London. First up, Imperial & Hampstead (whom I’ll now refer to as Hamperial) faced a confident looking Headstone Manor. With only the loss of 1 wicket, some quick singles, and an economical over bowled by Priya Patel, Headstone Manor achieved a mediocre 39 off their 5 overs. Becca and Jen, the two opening batswomen for Hamperial, took 1 over to get their eye in, not wanting to be over complacent. With 3 fours and a single scored by Jen in the second over, Headstone Manor were left floundering. The barrage of fours continued and Hamperial raced to victory comfortably within their 5 overs – leaving the Headstone Manor girls shamefaced.

After a rather long mobile max timeout (long live the IPL) – in which we ate our weight’s worth of cupcakes and flapjacks, Hamperial faced Underhill in their second group match. Our reputation as a strong batting side continued, with Amy scoring a quick fire 33, including two sixes. It was only afterwards we found out that she was actually a hockey player!!! With Leanne being clean bowled, Hamperial were determined not to falter, and Bessie joined Amy to steer us to a comfortable 65-2 off 5 overs. Great overs were bowled by both Kiran and Kushani – each taking a wicket and Kushani taking a great catch at deep mid-off, off Kiran’s bowling. Combined with some impressive fielding by Kirsten, this ensured that Underhill were dead and buried, reduced to 31-5.

From the following group matches – it was evident that Wanstead, Potters Bar, Headstone Manor and Hamperial were the strongest teams. With two comfortable wins under our belt, and one group match remaining, we were resolute not to enter the final with any black marks on our mark sheet. The match against UCL was a tense affair. A mean first over bowled by Kushani set the tone, and UCL struggled to find the gaps in the field. With only 23 on the board, a tight final over by Priya Shah giving away just 2 runs restricted UCL to 25-1 from their 5 overs. Hamperial, feeling confident that the match should soon be in the bag, opened the batting with experienced batswomen Kushani and Lucy H. However, UCL bowled perfect line and length, leaving Hamperial struggling to push the run rate past 5 an over. Frustratingly, the match ended in a tie; however it still meant that we finished at the top of the group thus making the final.

A tense playoff match for the third position, between Potters Bar and Headstone Manor ensued. Even with the pitch slowing up, Headstone Manor managed to post a challenging total of 49, losing just the one wicket. In reply, Potters Bar started well, however 3 quick run outs left them reeling and left the song ‘Another One Bites The Dust’ ringing in our ears. Nevertheless, the lower order batswomen steadied the ship and managed to guide their team to a rather nervy victory and thus achieved 3rd place overall in the tournament.

And so, it was time for the final. The atmosphere was tense, with Wanstead choosing to bat first. Bessie opened the bowling, and with Wanstead showing aggressive intent Hamperial showed off some great fielding, stopping some crucial boundaries. Lucy H bowled next, hoping to thwart the batswoman with some slower balls. However, Wanstead seemed undeterred with some powerful strikes leaving the Hamperial fielders helpless. A high edge off the last ball of the over, offered Hamperial some hope, but alas it was too high for Vicky the WK-y. After 3 overs, the score was 40 for no loss, despite accurate bowling from Rebecca and a great dive by Lucy to almost stop a boundary. Jenny D started her over well with two dot balls, but Wanstead punished a solitary loose short ball, pulling it to the boundary for six. Desperate to break the partnership, Jenny H bowled the last over. However, there was no stopping Wanstead whose openers seemed to be able to find the gaps all around the ground, regardless of some attacking fielding by Bessie at backward point. Finishing their innings with 62-0, Hamperial knew they had a match on their hands.

Jenny D and Jenny H opened the batting with great intent – smashing one four over midwicket and hitting a gorgeous straight drive over the bowlers head. With 14 being scored off the first over, Hamperial were slightly ahead of the required run rate. Unfortunately, the next over proved to be our downfall. Wanstead’s Melanie had a sensational catch off her own bowling, following this by bowling Hamperial’s Becca for a golden duck! On her hat trick ball, the pressure was too much and she gave away a wide – leaving Hamperial to breathe a very long sigh of relief. Vicky, the new batswoman in, set about increasing the run rate with a powerful four over mid wicket and guiding the ball past the square leg umpire. Unfortunately, it was not to be, with Vicky being bowled for 13 runs and 27 needed off the last over. Hamperial ended with 47-3 off the 5 overs, losing to worthy winners Wanstead, and finishing 2nd overall.

The post-match ceremony was carried out in the spirit of the day – with fun and friendship. It was a truly fantastic day out, and the Imperial College Ladies aka Ice Cream Ladies were all welcomed with open arms. We’d like to thank Hampstead Cricket Club for inviting us to partake in the tournament.