Cold day, cold cricket

Another freezing cold day in store and although it threatened to rain most of the day surprisingly it didn't.

England won the toss and batted first. Erin McDonald made her debut for New Zealand and picked up 2 for 18 off 8 overs which was a great return in her first international match. Clare Nicholson was in particularly miserly form picking up 2-17 off 10 overs - awesome Clare! Some of the other highlights for the CLEAR White Ferns also came through some excellent fielding, featuring three run outs. Emily (Drumm) was in great form in the field. We bowled England out for 134.

After a great start from Rollsy (Rebecca Rolls, 34) and Haidee (Bill) Tiffen (26) the total never looked threatening at 75-3 after 17 overs. However we did lose a few wickets in the run chase and it was left to Dot (Catherine Campbell) and I to score the winning runs. Another win for the CLEAR White Ferns and we look forward to tomorrow for an improved performance.

After the win we celebrated with a few club sandwiches and promptly got back into the mini vans to return to our hotel. Marion (Meates, physio) had arranged a massage therapist much to our delight and we spent the better half of the evening recovering with massage and hot cold showers eg. 3 minutes hot, 1 minute freezing cold - a nasty exercise on a cold day.

The highlight of the day outside of the win was undoubtedly the lunch provided by the South Canterbury Cricket Association - what a stunner! - salads for miles, baked potatoes, chicken breasts with cranberry sauce and cold meat selections - very nice and great to be able to enjoy it having done the business in the field.