Abbotskerswell do the double!

It has been a great year for women's softball cricket in Devon, with the festivals being well attended across the county and many clubs establishing new sections, we have seen 19 clubs playing in Devon during the summer. It also has been the first year of our softball league, with 9 teams playing across 3 leagues. 

The nine teams that made up the first softball league season in Devon. 

 

For some clubs it has been a challenging season and it has been difficulty to play and arrange games, but despite that we ended the league season with only 3 games not played on 12th September and we had three winners who would go through to Final's Day at Ottery St Mary on Sunday 19th September. 

 

Abbotskerswell CC won the South Area league 

Exwick CC won the Mid Devon League 

Budleigh Salterton CC won the East Devon League 

 

It was a great day with some excellent cricket and three good games, two of which came down to the last over. Further details of the games can be found here 

 

Game One: Exwick CC vs Abbotskerswell Cricket Club 

Abbots win the toss and choose to bat first. Exwick bowled really well and a normal run flowing Abbots found it difficult to score -Amy Farr top scoring with 14. Ending on a total of 81, they were going to have to bowl well to stay in the game. Exwick got off to a flying start and looked set to reach the total, going into the last 4 overs needing only 27 to win, but with some tight fielding and bowling from Abbots, captain Kate and and her batting partner Gabby, could not quite reach the total, falling short by 2 runs. 

Game Two: Exwick CC vs Budleigh Salterton CC

Playing the second two games, Budleigh arrived to lose the toss and bowl first. It took them a while to settle into the game and even the tight bowling of captain Kirsty at the end could not stop Exwick from reaching a total of 91 with the loss of just 2 wickets. Budleigh however got off to a great start and despite the loss of wickets, were keeping up with the rate required and looked like they were going to win the game. One single over changed that from Haniya. With two fantastic catches by Chloe, one of which earned her the 'WOW!' moment prize of the day, and then a run out, left Budleidh needing too many of the last over and they fell short of the total by 15 runs. 

Game Three: Abbotskerswell CC vs Budleigh Salterton

With Exwick and Abbots winning a game a piece, this game would decide the winner. If all teams won one each, it would go down to runs scored against wickets lost for the winner. 

Winning the toss, Abbots went into bat first. Budleigh had found their bowling line and taking regular wickets, restricted Abbots to 72, needing then 73 to win. Budleigh once again batted really well and with 21 runs from Charlie in her four overs, Budleigh again looked set to reach the total. Some tight bowling, led by Emma the captain and with constant encouragement from Anna at the sidelines, Budleigh then needed 9 off the last over. Bowling a good line, the batters found it difficult to score off the bowling of Amy and the pressure forced an error with a run out, which sealed the game with one ball to go. A fantastic end to the day, with Abbots winning by 9 runs. 

 

 

With two wins for Abbotskerswell, they were crowned County Champions and as they are currently the Super 8s Champions, they hold both softball trophies and have done the double!

Congratulations to all teams for winning their leagues and providing such a great day of cricket.  

Many thanks to Paula and all the team at Ottery St Mary Cricket Club who hosted the day and provided excellent hospitality.