Cricket Groundcare
Groundcare Machinery
Cricket Ground Equipment
Cricket Groundcare Awards
Nominate Awards
Dennis Cricket Groundcare Machinery
SISIS Cricket Groundcare Machinery
Syn-Pro by SISIS Cricket Groundcare Machinery
Warwickshire Women vs Durham Women, Match 4, Vitality Blast Women
By Brian Halford, ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
Warwickshire, 193 for 6, beat Durham, 151 all out, by 42 runs
Laura Harris introduced herself to Edgbaston with an explosive 16-ball half-century as Warwickshire beat Durham by 42 runs in the women’s Vitality Blast at Edgbaston.
Australian new signing Harris smashed 55 from 21 balls to support Davina Perrin’s classy 87 from 61 as the home side piled up 193 for six.
Durham replied with 151 all out in 19 overs, their Blast campaign destined to start with defeat after their reply rapidly declined to 15 for three. Suzie Bates (65, 41) and Bess Heath (45, 38) assured respectability for their side but Georgia Davis took three for 27 to seal Warwickshire’s first win of the tournament following their opening-game tie with The Blaze at Trent Bridge.
After choosing to bat, Warwickshire were given an excellent platform by Perrin and Abi Freeborn. Restricted to just a single from the first over from Lauren Filer, they worked the ball around intelligently to add 70 from 57 balls.
Freeborn departed after Filer turned in her follow-through and threw down the stumps as the batter sought a single. It was excellent work from the bowler but she soon wished she hadn’t bothered. Nineteen minutes later the new batter had 50.
Harris got off the mark with a straight six off Katie Levick, followed that with successive fours and then swung a Filer full toss over the long leg rope to thunder to 25 from eight balls. Her third six, smote straight off Levick, raised her half-century from 16.
Even after Harris was slickly stumped by Heath off Bates, there was little respite for Durham as Perrin took three fours and a six off a Mady Villiers over. A deserved century beckoned for Perrin but she spent much of the closing overs at the non-striker’s end before, having hit 12 fours and two sixes, she fell to a stinging return catch by Bates in the final over.
Durham’s reply started badly when Katherine Fraser edged the third ball, from Issy Wong, to wicketkeeper Freeborn. Wong struck again with her seventh ball when Hollie Armitage missed an attempted scoop off middle stump and was lbw. It was 15 for three after Mady Villiers drove Charis Pavely straight to extra cover.
There was no way back from there. Bates and Heath added 80 from 64 balls but the required rate hit 11 runs per over and Warwickshire captain Davis exploited the pressure with two wickets in four balls. Heath and Mia Rogers were bowled and stumped respectively after missing slogs.
Bates accelerated boldly but when she missed a scoop and was lbw to Hannah Baker, the tail was left to find 51 from the last three overs. It couldn’t.
Lancashire Women vs The Blaze, Match 5, Vitality Blast Women
Vitality Blast, Lancashire Thunder 169-4 v The Blaze 170-3. Blaze won by seven wickets.
Lancashire 0 points, The Blaze 4 points
By Graham Hardcastle, ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
The Blaze gained revenge for Monday’s County T20 Cup semi-final defeat as they chased 170 to beat Lancashire Thunder in their second game of the Vitality Blast women’s competition at Emirates Old Trafford.
Following a home tie against Bears yesterday, opener Georgia Elwiss set up the chase with 53 off 43 balls. She shared 101 inside 12 overs for the first wicket with Marie Kelly, who contributed 40. But Kathryn Bryce’s nerveless 49 not out off 29 sealed a seven-wicket win with five balls remaining.
Katie Mack had top-scored with 59 off 37 balls at the top of the order for County Cup champions Thunder, who totalled an imposing 169 for four having been inserted on a used pitch at the start of a double header T20 day with the Red Rose and Nottinghamshire men. This was their first game.
England leg-spinner Sarah Glenn struck once with her leg-spinners for the visitors and took a brilliant diving one-handed catch at backward point to help remove Mack on Lancashire’s Pride day.
Thunder overseas Mack is playing the first three games of this competition before making way for her compatriot, the international leg-spinner Alana King.
There was plenty of invention on show from Mack, who was supported by a quartet of scores in the twenties from opening partner Tilly Kesteven, Seren Smale, Fi Morris and Sophie Ecclestone.
Mack and Kesteven shared 50 inside the first six overs, and when Mack was superbly caught by Glenn off the seam of Elwiss, Lancashire were 106 for two in the 13th over.
Last year’s Charlotte Edwards Cup T20 regional champions The Blaze dragged things back well for the next few overs, Glenn getting Smale stumped.
But Thunder ended with a bang as 30 runs came from the last three overs, with Ecclestone hitting three fours in 22 off 15 balls and Morris two fours and a heaved six over midwicket in 27 not out off 22.
However, the runs kept coming, which was good news for The Blaze.
Elwiss hoisted Ecclestone for an eye-catching six over long-on in the fourth over, added to two boundaries, as the score reached 38 without loss.
Opening partner Kelly was actually quicker out of the blocks as she and Elwiss took the score to 63 after six overs and beyond.
But Elwiss was the one who went to 50, off 39 balls, by which time the score was 103 for one in the 12th over. Kelly had only just miscued the seam of Tara Norris to mid-off.
A feature of Elwiss’s innings – and perhaps the deciding factor in the game – was how she didn’t let England left-arm spinner Ecclestone settle. She returned figures of nought for 26 from 3.1 overs.
The game did tighten up when Elwiss dragged Mahika Gaur’s left-arm seam to long-off, leaving Blaze 109 for two after 13 overs.
The target became 49 off the last five overs and later 18 off two with Gaur having struck again.
But fabulous Kathryn Bryce, who hit six fours and six over long-off, and New Zealander Maddy Green took 16 off the penultimate over from the spin of Sophie Morris, including a straight six from the latter, to ice the game.
Cricket World 2025
