Tough to take narrow defeats

The day of our first game dawned and we were all up at 6am to get some breakfast in before leaving at seven. We arrived at Mac A and were escorted to our plush dressing room complete with leather seats. The day started well with me winning my first toss and electing to field.

The Indians got off to a great start with their opening pair putting on 121, but we fought back really well to restrict them to 231 from the 50 overs. We were really happy we’d kept them to that and were confident we could chase it down as it was a good pitch and a quick outfield.

Our reply started well being 82 for 2 off 20 overs. However the loss of key wickets at key times, coupled with Claire Taylor not being on top form and therefore batting lower down the order, we fell 18 runs short. I was bitterly disappointed as we were in a great position and the target was always achievable. Everyone was really disappointed but there were many positives to come out of it and there were still five more games left.

On Thursday we headed to the other ground for an early training session and a debrief about the game. It was quite a light session but everyone got out of it what they wanted and we all felt ready to face the Kiwis the next day. That afternoon I met up with one of England’s all-time greats, not just at cricket, but also football, the legendary Clare Taylor, who is assistant coach to the New Zealand women’s team. We had some PG Tips and shared some banter about the following day’s game. It was good to see her on such good form – New Zealand life obviously suits her.

We had an early night in preparation for another big day. Another really early start meant we were at the ground for 7.30. This time we were playing at Chemplast, a university ground set in the middle of a campus where deers and monkeys roam free. I won my second toss (am loving these Indian coins!) and put the Kiwis into bat.

On a lightning outfield they got off to a brisk start, but we managed to reel them in throughout the middle of the innings until the last ten overs, during which they amassed over 100 runs with some powerful hitting from Sarah Tsukigawa and Nicola Browne. They finished on 291 for 6. Although it was a disappointing last ten overs from our perspective, on that pitch we felt 291 was a gettable target.

Our chase however didn’t start particularly well losing Caroline Atkins first ball and Laura Newton following quickly for 12. A good partnership between Claire and Sarah Taylor of 82 set us up nicely though. But the loss of these key batsmen in fairly quick succession meant we had to rebuild for a few overs.

I was at the crease and had good partnerships with both Lydia Greenway and Beth Morgan and we needed 60 off the last ten overs with four wickets in the bank. But some tight bowling and me losing my wicket for 86 eventually cost us the game, this time falling short by 19 runs. We were all really gutted and the bus journey back to the hotel was very subdued. Again, there were lots of positives to take forward, not least Ebony Rainford-Brent’s full England debut, but it’s hard to take them on board when you’ve just lost again.

But I know we’ll pick ourselves up as we’ve got possibly our biggest game of the tournament against the Aussies on Sunday. After a game of football on Saturday morning, we had the afternoon off to prepare. It’s a must-win fixture for both sides, so it’s bound to be a “gripper”.