3rd September - Brighton & Hove 2 - League  

After an absence of 6 weeks, we welcomed back Beth from England duties. She promptly got back to her old ways - loosing the toss, as we were inserted. Together with Sue she opened the batting and the pair were off and running from the first ball. Beth rode her luck a little - some might say she was picking on the square leg fielder, but the conservative count was that she was dropped 4 times, as we made steady progress. Sue was looking like something back to her old self, although it might be my eyes but she seems to be going a little soft on short balls - things that would have been dispatched to the boundary without a second thought a couple of years ago, were now being treated with a bit more compassion, and patted away for 2. Or maybe she didn't want to upset Beth by stealing her limelight! Either way, it's great to see her looking like this again.

With the score on 100 of 23 overs, without loss, things were set up nicely for the last 22 overs. Then a moment of indecisiveness saw Sue inexplicitly bowled. Emma walked out to join Beth and picked up where Sue left off. Together the pair put on 43 before disaster struck and Emma was run out. Chander now joined Beth, and watched by her mother for the first time ever (the only other time she has seen her, she's been on the telly!) looked in superb nick. The aim was to get the run rate up as close to 6 an over as possible, and with her placement and power, she had no need to force anything that wasn't there. Things were ticking along nicely before a mis-timed slice ended up in third man's hands. Still with Beth still going strong, we had no need to worry. It was obvious that the effort she puts into her training pays off, as she moved effortlessly from 50, to 100 and then in the last over to 150 - the first person to carry her bat for that amount. Some classic drives and good old fashioned brute strength - you can't beat it for entertainment. We finished with over 280 - not bad from 45 overs.

In reply, Barts was given a new ball new partner - Binaisha Shah. In the last couple of games she's played in the 1's, and has really bowled well, and sure enough, first ball saw Naomi Poletyllo smash a cover drive slightly uppishly, only for Sue, standing at short cover, to produce the dive of the day and take an outstanding catch around her ankles!! Binaisha finished with figures of 5 overs, 2 maidens, 3 runs and 1 wicket - not bad! Barts was her usual aggressive self, but wasn't having much luck. Stockie and Danni were given their choice of ends, and again bowled well - picking up 3 wickets between them, but as if she hadn't had enough of the limelight, Beth was the pick of the bowlers with 7 overs, 4 maidens, 6 runs and 4 wickets - the last 2 coming with her 5th and 6th balls of the 38th over. Thus allowing us to pick up an extra bonus point for bowling out the opposition early! Another great victory - good all round performances.