On Tuesday evening, the Womens 2nd Xl travelled to North Kildare. The home side won the toss and put Malahide in to bat. The innings started off slow for Malahide and the North Kildare opening bowlers had us struggling at 24 for 5. Some very useful runs from Sarah B (11) and Sarah C (11) gave us something to build on. Then came the fighting partnership from Maria (16) and Babs (28) which pushed us to 92 for 6 after 20 overs and gave us something to defend.
Malahide were determined to give everything in the field and that they did! Sarah C opened the bowling and kept the runs down at one end, while at the other end Aisling took 2 wickets. The North Kildare number 3 was hitting the ball beautifully, but Malahide captain, Tess, organised the field well and was backed up by dedicated fielding with Katie and Juliette getting themselves behind the ball to stop it. Wicket Keeper Sofia, Tess and Karen kept the pressure on the batters' running which led to a direct hit by Karen, creating a run out. Isobel and Maria (2-9) bowled excellent lines & lengths and got wickets regularly. The North Kildare number 3 batter was increasing their total steadily, even though she was losing her batting partners at the other end. Then came the most spectacular caught & bowled by Isobel that dismissed her for 54. This left North Kildare on 82 for 7 with 6 overs remaining. Malahide knew they had a good chance to win, but they needed to stay focused. The pressure continued on the batters and Isobel claimed 2 more wickets to finish with excellent bowling figures of 4-14 and Sarah B bowled very tight at the other end to claim the last North Kildare wicket in the 19th over with their innings finishing on 91 all out. This was an outstanding team win for Malahide by 1 run!
Special thanks to our 'A' team of Alun who umpired and Ann who did the scoring. They held their nerve, especially in such a tense game! Thanks also to North Kildare who played the game in such a great spirit. Finally, to our many supporters who never gave up, survived the nervous final overs with only a few grey hairs and helped us to celebrate our win in McDonalds!