Women win twice at Maghull

Rainhill's women win against Liverpool and Sefton Park

RAINHILL v LIVERPOOL Rainhill 278, Liverpool 241

RAINHILL v SEFTON PARK

Sefton Park 243, Rainhill 256 RAINHILL v MAWDESLEY

Mawdesley 281, Rainhill 229

Rainhill's women took part in a softball tournament at Maghull on Sunday, and came away with two wins and a loss.

Their first match was against Liverpool, who had beaten them a few weeks ago at the Northern softball festival. This time Rainhill, batting first, gave a much better account of themselves. Alex Lea and Cassie Hopkins gave them the perfect start, scoring quickly from the outset and finding the boundary on several occasions. Lucy Williams (pictured, right) also got in on the act with some positive shots of her own. Rainhill batted well throughout their innings and, although they lost three wickets, finished with an impressive net score of 278.

Rainhill set a defensive field and Alex Lea (pictured, left) took an early wicket to give Rainhill the advantage. Liverpool struggled to score at the required rate and it wasn't until the 7th over that they registered a boundary. Liverpool's final pair rallied and took their team's net score on to 241, but the result was never in doubt and Rainhill finished with a 37-run victory.

Rainhill's next match was against Sefton Park and this was a much closer affair. Sefton Park batted first and were pegged back when Anna Page took a wicket with her first ball. There was a good battle between bat and ball throughout the innings and, with some astute fielding,

Rainhill were able to restrict their opponents to 243. Rainhill weren't able to find the kind of start they did against Liverpool but they did keep ahead of the required run rate and some strong hitting from Sue Lowrie (pictured, right) and Susan Rotheram meant that the final pairing of Kerry Lawler and Julie Foulkes simply had to avoid losing a wicket to win the game. This they did, and added a few runs, to finish on 256.

Rainhill's final game was against Mawdesley, who had looked the strongest team at the event. Mawdesley batted first and were both disciplined and direct, posting a score of 281. That proved too much for Rainhill, who were only able to respond with 229.

However, two wins from three matches is a good return and there were - as usual - some good individual perfomances. Rainhill's total of 278 against Liverpool is (we think) their highest score in pairs cricket.