‘Southern Vipers Women’ vs ‘Northern Diamonds W’ at Ageas Bowl, Southampton on 18 September (Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy – round 7)
Undefeated on 84, POTM Georgia Elwiss made certain that ‘Vipers’ won what could have been a dress rehearsal for this year’s final which may be played between the same teams, missing key players on England call-up. ‘Diamonds now need to beat ‘Sparks’ for a rematch to play ‘Vipers’ (who are also the defending champions); in the trophy final.
*‘Diamonds’ lost 1 wicket (Rachel Hopkins) but faced 43 dot balls during their 10 ov. power-play (37/1.) Before the 100 ball benchmark (16.4 ov; 50/2) Hollie Armitage (21) was clean-bowled by Georgia Elwiss. Sterre Kalis (23) was stumped before the mid-way point (91/3.) Leah Dobson (49) was ‘run-out’ one short of ‘fifty’ after striking Charlotte Taylor for ‘six.’
*England academy hopeful Bess Heath struck Tara Norris for 20 runs from the same over, including two ‘sixes.’
*2 more wickets fell during Lauren Bell’s final over when Bess Heath was ‘run out’ and Beth Langston was out for a 2nd ball duck.
*Bowling the penultimate over Paige Scholfield took two more wickets, clean-bowling Phoebe Graham and Rachel Slater was ‘leg before’ for a golden duck.
*Scholfield also took the final catch as Diamonds last 5 wickets fell for 8 just runs.
‘Vipers’ were 30/1 (vs 37/1) and 63/1 (vs 50/2) after 100 balls. By mid-way, the two Georgia’s (Adams and Elwiss) were 118/2 needing 139 to win. With Georgia Adams (67) gone during the 33rd over, ‘Vipers’ were still behind the required-run-rate. Drama struck when ‘Vipers’ lost 2 wickets within 3 balls: Gaby Lewis (39) ‘leg before’ to Phoebe Graham and Emily Windsor (1) ‘run out. ’Elwiss struck the final 2 ‘fours’ needed to see ‘Vipers’ safely across the line.
Result: ‘Southern Vipers -Women’ 260/5 beat ‘Northern Diamonds -W’ 256/10 by 5 wickets (with 7 balls remaining)
‘Diamonds -W’ 256/10 (48.3/50 overs, 5.27 runs-per-over): Bess Heath 71 runs (from 51 balls), Leah Dobson 49(75), Linsey Smith 37(32), Ami Campbell 26(35), Sterre Kalis 23(48), Hollie Armitage 21(38); ‘Vipers’ bowling: Lauren Bell 2/29, Paige Scholfield 2/35; Maia Bouchier 1/20, Georgia Adams 1/36, Georgia Elwiss 1/43, Tara Norris 1/57, Fow: 1-2, 2-43, 3-56, 4-104, 5-170, 6-248, 7-248, 8-251, 9-252, 10-256;
‘Vipers -W:’ 260/5 (48.5 ov. 5.32 r-p-o), Georgia Elwiss 84* runs (from 77 balls), Georgia Adams 67(94), Maia Bouchier 40(53), Gaby Lewis 39(51), Paige Scholfield 15*(9); ‘Diamonds’ bowling: Phoebe Graham 3/44; Fow: 1-7, 2-74, 3-163, 4-225, 5-226;
Scorecard at: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/rachael-heyhoe-flint-trophy-2021-1252263/southern-vipers-vs-northern-diamonds-1252291/full-scorecard
Highlights (once uploaded) at: https://yorkshireccc.com/diamonds
