My Lords, Ladies and........ (part 2)

The Lady Llamas welcomed the MCC ladies team to Park Lane for a T20 match as part of the Llamas Cricket week.

MCC Captain Eloise Porter (Hampstead CC) won the toss and elected to bat and after 4 overs the MCC were 36-0 with both Millie Hetherington and Captain Jess Whitcher bowling 2 overs for 18 runs. A change of bowlers brought a breakthrough as Lucy Harris (U15) with 4 overs 1-25 got the opener out lbw for 6 for the 1st wicket to fall in the 5th over with the score at 39-1.

At the end of the 8th over the MCC were 64-1 and well placed for a 160+ total. At the halfway 10th over the MCC were 75-1 with Lily Foster (U15) having bowled 3 overs for 21 in trying to keep a lid on the run rate.

Laura Bailey’s 2nd over (the 13th) of spin got the next wicket with an athletic diving catch from Millie Hetherington and in the same over Laura had MCC Captain Eloise Porter (0) caught by Lucy at cover for 86-3. Laura’s excellent figures of 4 overs 2 wickets for a miserly 10 runs supported by Lucy Allen (3-0-26-0) meant the MCC were not racing away and after 15 overs the MCC were 97-3.

In the 18th over Millie Hetherington (4-0-22-1) got the 4th MCC wicket with the score on 120. The MCC opener from Hursley Park CC passed her 50 and no more wickets fell as the MCC finished their 20 overs on 134-4.

A good comeback from the Llamas from what had earlier looked like a 160+ score; with (apart from the occasional misfield) a good all round team fielding performance in the heat including keeper Rosie Foster (U13) who continued standing up at the stumps despite taking a hit.

With Alice Capsey otherwise engaged and with Amy Gordon preparing for “Hundred” duty with the Welsh Fire; the inexperienced Llamas (with 5 under 18’s) were going to find chasing the MCC’s 134 would be a tall order.

The Llama reply started cautiously as the 1st wicket fell caught at gully and the Llamas were 15-1 in the 4th over before the 1st of 3 run outs as the MCC set high standards in the field. From 24-2 in the 7th over, a direct hit saw the 2nd of the run outs as the Llama reply reached 34-3 after 11 overs of accurate MCC bowling.

The Llamas were now well behind the required run rate and it was Lucy Harris who was the main contributor in taking the Llamas to 52 before Lily Foster was 4th out caught at slip in the 15th over .
A Llama wicket then fell every over from the 16th to the 19th as Lucy Harris , top scoring with 28, was bowled by Felicity Bennett of Guildford CC (4-0-24-1) for the Llamas to be 61-5 in the 16th over. Millie Hetherington hit 2 fours before being bowled for 70-6 in the 17th over. The 18th over saw Rosie Foster bowled for 73-7 and the 19th over saw Vicki Howard bowled by the pick of the MCC bowlers and the Llamas were 74-8 with one over remaining.

2 wickets fell in the final over as the 3rd run out saw the 9th wicket fall followed by an lbw to see the Llamas all out for 84 with Captain Jess Whitcher not out avoiding being the 4th run out having completed most of her innings with a runner (Millie).

A showpiece game for the Club and a showcase for the cricketing talents of the Lady Llamas.