Burgess Hill Girls Under 13 are Going to Lord's!

 

Hursley Park were led by the outstanding Martha Appleby-Ingram, who had scored more than 2,500 runs this summer and been dismissed just once all season.

 

Hursley Park won the toss and batted first.

 

Jess Parker set the tone with a superb opening spell before Orlaith Jarvis struck with her very first ball, bowling Rana for 20. Violet Bassett then clean bowled Wilson as Hursley reached 67-2 after 10 overs.

 

Appleby-Ingram continued to show her quality and, at 115-3 after 15 overs, Hursley looked set for 170+.

 

But Burgess Hill finished brilliantly. Sophia Medhurst and Orlaith produced three superb run outs, before Jess struck with a pinpoint yorker as Hursley were restricted to 154 all out.

 

Appleby-Ingram carried her bat for an outstanding 86 not out, but Burgess Hill’s bowling, fielding and game awareness had kept them firmly in the game.

 

In reply, Burgess Hill reached 50-2 after eight overs before Orlaith joined Cora Saunders and the momentum shifted. Together they produced a partnership of remarkable maturity, rotating the strike intelligently and punishing anything loose.

 

Cora took command with a brilliant display of timing and placement before striking the winning runs in the 16th over.

 

Cora Saunders finished 80 not out from 50 balls and Orla Jarvis 26 not out from 23 balls. This secured a place in the National Final at Lords.

 

A huge thank you to our incredible travelling support, Wokingham CC, the officials and ECB representative Aaron – and to Hursley Park for a superb game played in exactly the right spirit.

 

This performance captured everything this side has become: resilient, disciplined, fearless and united.

 

And they’ve made history.

 

Burgess Hill Girls U13 will become the first Sussex girls’ team to play a National Cup Final at Lord’s Cricket Ground, as they take on Duffield CC from Derbyshire. With the Final taking place on Saturday 12th September, 10:30am.

 

One final challenge remains for this very talented group of girls from Sussex.

 

Full scorecard from the match can be found here.