Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy – First Round
Three close results out of four is just what the RHF trophy wanted in its opening round
Results:
Lightning 214-9; Southern Vipers 215-6. Vipers won by 4 wickets
Northern Diamonds 279; Central Sparks 283-8. Sparks won by 2 wickets
North West Thunder 291-8; Western Storm 295-9. Storm won by 1 wicket
South East Stars 324-7; Sunrisers 189. Stars won by 135 runs
The holders, Southern Vipers, had to work hard to overcome Lightning, and Western Storm, past winners of the KSL, scraped home at the death against North West Thunder.
The classic finish was at Bristol where it needed Anya Shrubsole’s obduracy to ensure a home victory when all looked lost. It came right down to the last over, bowled by Sophie Ecclestone. She had returned two overs earlier to take two wickets in three balls and leave the game hanging on the last wicket. After surviving a couple of testing deliveries from the masterful Ecclestone, Shrubsole heaved the next one over the mid-wicket boundary to secure an unlikely victory.
And it was a pleasure (and relief) to see her returning the sort of bowling analysis we used to expect from her, 3-29 off 10.
The only one-sided victory came at Chelmsford where Sunrisers continued their struggles of last year. Really strong top-order batting for the visitors (Bryony Smith 59, Alice Davidson-Richards 53, then Sophia Dunkley a match-securing 104*) helped them to the biggest total of the day.
At Headingley the hosts’ skipper Lauren Winfield-Hill (110) anchored a big score, but Amy Jones responded with a match-winning 114, supported by a less expectable but very welcome 71* from Sarah Glenn.
Emma Lamb, opening for Thunder, impressed with the biggest innings of the day (121), putting on 176 for the second wicket with the Australian Piepa Cleary, but Heather Knight takes challenges like that in her stride.
The game at Southampton saw consistent batting from both sides rather than big scores. Tammy Beaumont held the Lightning effort together with 57, and nobody could score more than Danni Wyatt’s 53 for Vipers, but they came through with three overs to spare.
On the bowling front the top figures were provided by Tash Farrant, skipper of the Stars, with 5-33, including all the first four batters.
Media Coverage
All the games could be seen live, which makes a vital contribution to the visibility of English women’s cricket. The quality of the coverage varied, but far more cameras were in operation than in the days of two fixed cameras at each end. But as with rugby’s recent Premier 15s live streams, the producers’ control of camera selection left a lot to be desired.
In the comm box too all was not well. In the odd case, the regular county commentators were called in to cover the games. They may have tried to do their homework, but their inability to identify fielders, or even bowlers was most unfortunate, and our two familiar friends at Chelmsford allowed themselves to reminisce about their golfing and drinking past, men’s cricket and other irrelevancies, leaving the action before their eyes unmentioned. It made a striking contrast with the competence displayed on other grounds where the game was placed front and foremost throughout.
Individual Stats
Batting
121 Emma Lamb
114 Amy Jones
110 Lauren Winfield-Hill
104* Sophia Dunkley
91 Heather Knight
79 Piepa Cleary
71* Sarah Glenn
61* Anya Shrubsole
Bowling
5-33 Tash Farrant
5-49 Issy Wong
4-35 Kirstie Gordon
