An excellent inning of 52 from Grace Hall could not prevent Sheffield Hallam from losing to the University of Sheffield in the Women’s 1st Team Cricket.
The result came after starring roles from Maddy Atkinson and Katherine Mills, as they
prevailed by a comfortable 20 runs.
Batting first, the Black and Golds made their way to 113-4 in their 10 allocated overs, with
Atkinson and Mills finishing with unbeaten scores of 31 and 30, respectively.
A good start for the opening pair of Mills and Lizzie Scott saw their side to 45-0 before the
latter was run out by Hall. The former would then retire in the same over, leaving Leah
Holland and Atkinson as the new batters at the crease.
The pair kept the runs ticking before a huge six from Atkinson in the 8th over, followed by her retirement, injected yet more impetus into the innings.
The further runouts of Holland and Ria Gill did not halt the momentum, with the retired pair returning to the crease together to see out a strong batting display.
There was plenty of encouragement for the Hallam side at their own Sports Park, but it
would prove to be in vain as The Uni Of then produced an accomplished bowling display to
bowl out their hosts for 93.
Much of the damage was done in the first few overs as Mills and Lizzie Scott limited Hallam
to 30-2 in their first four. The wickets to fall were opener Izzy Bottrell-Campbell, who was
run out after tidy work from Uni Of wicketkeeper Katie Mclean, and Mackenzie Wright, who
was caught excellently at cover by Ria Gill.
As wickets fell, however, fellow opener Hall continued to tick along, eventually retiring in
the sixth over after a tidy effort. This brought Becca Othick into the crease, who was then
caught on the first ball by Mills as she continued to get into the action.
Alex Tomlinson would then fall to a Lizzie Scott runout, bringing Hallam back to the middle. In a defiant effort, she hit off-spinner Leah Holland for two fours and a six in one over,
notching up 52 runs before being caught by Atkinson off the bowling of Mills in the final
over.
This was the batting display of the match but couldn’t see Hallam over the line as they were comfortably beaten. Katherine Mills’ figures of 3-15 also capped off a fine all-round display.
Sheffield Hallam University
Mackenzie Wright
Izzy Bottrell-Campbell (wk)
Becca Othick
Izzi Pearson
Alex Tomlinson
Grace Hall
University of Sheffield
Leah Holland
Katie McLean (wk)
Katherine Mills
Lizzie Scott
Maddy Atkinson
Ria Gill