The U11s faced Old Actonians yesterday in their final league fixture of the season and, after a very successful season so far, they wanted to finish on a high. With some late drop-outs, we were a few players short come match day, but Old Actonians had similar challenges with a limited team too, so the match was reduced to 16 overs rather than the usual 20.

Old As took up the bat and managed a respectable 272 runs, with BPG rather generous in the number of extras they gave to the opposition. Still, there were some notable performances from the BPG girls, with worthy wickets for Jessica, Annie (2 wickets), Lola (in her first match appearance for BPG) and Sofia.

With the target in sight, BPG took up the bat and the innings looked to be heading in a similar direction, with Old As being as generous in return with the extras. But the BPG girls soldiered on, conceded less wickets than their opponents and were calling firmly, running hard and tenacious in their approach. However, with one batting pair and only four overs remaining, BPG’s hopes of a win were dwindling with 17 runs still needed.

It fell to captain Erin G (aka ‘The Pocket Rocket’) and Sofia P-S to bring it home. Their partnership amassed 32 runs (excluding extras), with 29 of those from Erin’s bat as she hit boundary after boundary. The final run total was a 24-run win for BPG with 296 runs.

It was a pleasure to host Old As and the game was played in a very good spirit as always, with plenty of laughs and fun. A big thank you to Ted Goodwin for umpiring, Paige Goodwin of BPG U13s and Will Stirling for scoring, and to the girls for a fantastic season. It has been a pleasure seeing you all grow, have fun and improve over the months, with girls’ cricket the winner all round.