The two May bank holidays see the bulk of the competition completed. After Round Six Kent have consolidated their place at the head of the table, seeing off the two Rose counties away from home in the damp.
Last year they swamped the opposition at Beckenham; this time round they had to work very hard to gain their victories.
In the Sunday matches there was a breathless result at Heywood. A 35-over contest on a damp pitch saw Lancashire scrape home against Sussex by 3 runs. Nancy Harman took four quick wickets to leave the last pair hanging on to secure victory.
Likewise over the Pennines at Harrogate (a 36-over game) both Yorkshire and Kent found run-getting a hard task. Lauren Winfield invited Kent to bat. Brunt versus Beaumont promised to be a battle for the connoisseur, but the Kent skipper lasted four balls, pinned lbw. Her partner Alice Davidson-Richards needed 28 balls to make 4. A total of 121 looked well under par, but the table-toppers stuck to their guns with accurate bowling. In the end Yorkshire found themselves an agonising 6 runs short of victory.
A day later
Good news for the two winless counties: Warwickshire beat Surrey by 7 wickets, thanks to a commanding hundred by Amy Jones (101*), well supported by Marie Kelly (59). Hampshire broke their duck with two wins over the weekend. On Sunday they rolled over Warwickshire for 109 to gain a welcome first victory. The next day the captain Katie George hit her highest score of 80 to steer her side to victory at Welbeck in Nottinghamshire. Suzie Bates (69) helped her in a decisive partnership of 117.
Lancashire v Kent
It’s accepted wisdom that you put the other side in when rain has intervened. On Sunday it happened to both matches in the north; both decisions proved wrong – by the tightest of margins.
Come Monday, and Tammy Beaumont decided on the same policy for Kent. Lancashire worked hard to reach 161; none of the top order could play a decisive innings against a Kent attack that proved difficult to get away. After Laura Marsh had done her usual parsimonious job, two more off-spinners, Megan Belt and Kalea Moore (a 15-year-old debuting as a bowler), followed her example well. Another youngster, Chelsey Rowson, showed her all-round skills by bowling a really tight spell of medium pace to take 4-24.
The pitch was playing tricks, and Sophie Ecclestone and Alex Hartley were the spin pair to cause Kent plenty of problems. Rash shots cost wickets, and it took the experience of Fran Wilson (54*) and Laura Marsh (22*) to see the visitors home.
Kent now have a perfect record of six wins out of six. The coaches and captain won’t claim they are the finished article, but they maintain good standards in the field, have a range of accurate bowlers and don’t depend solely on their captain to post the necessary totals.
Scores:
Sunday 26 May
Hampshire 111-3 beat Warwickshire 109 by 7 wickets
Kent 121 beat Yorkshire 116-7 by 5 runs
Notts 231-6 beat Surrey 173 by 58 runs
Sussex 135-7 beat Lancashire 132-9 by 3 runs
Monday 27 May
Lancashire 161 lost to Kent 162-4 by 6 wickets
Notts 176 lost to Hants 177-4 by 6 wickets
Surrey 195-9 lost to Warwick 199-3 by 7 wickets
Yorkshire 190-9 beat Sussex 139 by 51 runs
Division One Table after 6 games
| Won | Lost | Points | |
| Kent | 6 | 0 | 102 |
| Yorks | 4 | 2 | 76 |
| Notts | 3 | 3 | 64 |
| Lancs | 3 | 3 | 67 |
| Sussex | 3 | 3 | 67 |
| Hants | 2 | 4 | 62 |
| Surrey | 2 | 4 | 67 |
| Warwick | 1 | 5 | 47 |
Spotlight on leading performances:
There were strangely few on Sunday –
Bryony Smith 106
Sarah Bryce 55
Nancy Harman 4-0-16-4
Providence Cowdrill 5-0-19-4
but a few more on Monday –
Amy Jones 101*
Katie George 80
Suzie Bates 63*
Jenny Gunn 62*
Marie Kelly 59
Leigh Kasperek 58*
Fran Wilson 54*
Chelsey Rowson 9.2-1-24-4
In addition two England players, skipper Heather Knight (Berkshire) and Sophia Dunkley (Middlesex), scored big hundreds in Division Two.
