For those not at the match v Ickenham on Sunday, below is Charlotte's report from the match and for those who wish to view the scorecard: http://womenscsl.play-cricket.com/website/results/2980111. The league has since confirmed our placing as reported by Charlotte.

Last Sunday we travelled to Ickenham knowing that we needed a win to stay at the top of the table after our tied game against Finchley a few weeks before. Our openers, Sinead and Hazel went out to bat with runs behind them but were pinned back by some tidy bowling by the Ickenham openers. We were soon one down when Sinead was caught behind and showed her usual spirit of cricket and walked, with no hesitation. Charlotte came out at 3, knowing that there was job to do, but more importantly that this was now her chance to overtake Sinead in the run totals in the Play Cricket stats! Alas, things never go to plan and Charlotte was soon back in the pavilion after a leading edge was popped up to the wicket keeper. Enter Sunny, her first innings of the season. With some good running between the wickets, Sunny and Hazel started to build a total until Hazel unfortunately thumped the ball towards cover and it stuck in the fielder’s hands, a good, low catch; cue another sigh from the spectating team. It was then Spuggie's turn to try to steady the ship! And that she did. Sunny and Spuggie again started to build a partnership until Sunny was bowled. Fast forward a little to Spuggie and Lexi building the last, very lucrative partnership (65) with Spuggie hitting 75 from 72 balls and Lexi 21 from 32 to ensure Twickenham had a total to defend.

The bowling started well with Hazel and Sunny bowling well to their field sets. Sunny took the first two wickets, one of which was a fabulous catch by Karen at gully. At this point things were initially looking good, however hard work by the Ickenham numbers 3 and 4, eventually led to them both passing 50 and taking the game towards a tight finish. Sinead came out of her usual wicket keeping position to bowl tightly, taking the wicket of the number 4 batter before a fourth wicket fell to Hazel, with another fine catch, this time by Jess at extra-cover. Unfortunately for us, the Ickenham number 3 remained calm and composed at the death, and ensured that they reached the required total with 17 balls to spare.

Ultimately, a frustrating loss where we failed to post a defendable score, but we have paid the price by now dropping to second in the league with two games left to play.