Sunrisers vs South East Stars on May 5 – at Radlett, Herts (Cobden Hill Cricket Club)
Stars posted a defendable score in difficult ‘soggy’ playing conditions that saw 19 wickets fall. Scotland’s Abtaha Maqsood took 4/23 (4-fer.) As the match progressed, each innings was reduced in two steps: 41 overs-per-side; then down to 29 overs, following sporadic rain. Match advantage swung to Stars favour when England’s Sophia Dunkley took four catches, when fielding in-the-covers. Pressure began to intensify during the 11th and 12th overs when Sunrisers lost four wickets without a single run being scored. During the 12th over Stars spinner Danielle Gregory 4/12 (pictured) took three wickets without conceding a run. Danielle Gregory went on to score her ‘4-fer’ during what turned out to be Sunrisers’ penultimate over. Commentators were Kevin Hand (from BBC Sport) and Mike McCarthy (Sports journalist.) Video highlights from Sunrisers TV via ECB Online (NV Play) – please see below. Weather was overcast with sporadic rain.
Stars’ innings *Skipper Bryony Smith. *England’s Sophia Dunkley’s first new season match, in place of Alice Capsey. *Sophia Dunkley (2) was bowled through the gate by Kate Coppack *During Stars Power-play, there was an hour’s interruption for rain. *Skipper Smith was caught by Eva Gray bowled by skipper Castle for 21 runs (from 17 balls); *After ten overs, Stars were 58/2. *Top-scorer Kira Chathli 28(39) was caught by skipper Kelly Castle from Mady Villiers.*Abtaha Maqsood dismissed Stars’ middle-order taking a 4-fer. Firstly, *Paige Scholfield 27(25) went ‘leg before;’ *Secondly Alice Davidson-Richards (4) was bowled; *Thirdly, Phoebe Franklin 20(26) was stumped by Sunrisers’ keeper Amara Carr. *A little later, Jemima Spence (3) was also stumped by Amara Carr, coming down-wicket to Abtaha Maqsood (4/23) *In between, Tash Farrant 11(18) was caught by Kate Coppack; *Finally, Ryana Macdonald-Gay (8) was caught by Eva Gray from Kelly Castle. Freya Davies (8*) and Danielle Gregory (4*) remained ’not out’ once the 29 overs quota had elapsed.
Sunrisers’ innings *Skipper Kelly Castle with Scots internationals Abtaha Maqsood and and Saskia Horley. *England’s Freya Davies took first wicket ‘with perfect line-and-length’ bowling ‘hugely talented’ Grace Scrivens (England u-19’s) *Commentator lauded Sophia Dunkley for taking four catches ‘in the covers:’ three batters [Alice Macleod (2); Mady Villiers (2) and Saskia Horley (1)]: from the bowling of Phoebe Franklin. *Sophia Dunkley took another catch back-pedalling to ‘deep extra cover.’ *Commentators reported the ‘best catch of all,’ coming from the bowling of skipper Bryony Smith. *With top-scorer Cordelia Griffith 27 (29) gone, commentators added that Sunrisers had hit ‘a spot of bother’ when Danielle Gregory took four lower-order batters’ wickets. *Firstly, Joanne Gardner (3) was bowled by Danielle Gregory.* Secondly, Eva Gray was caught-and-bowled by Gregory for a second-ball duck *Thirdly, skipper Castle (0) went ‘leg before’ to Danielle Gregory for a third-ball duck. *Fourthly, Amara Carr (6) was bowled by Danielle Gregory for a third-ball duck.*Match reached its conclusion when Abtaha Maqsood was caught behind by Stars keeper Kira Chathli for an 8th ball duck, from Alice Davidson-Richards. *Post-script: Dane v.Niekerk (Rep. South Africa) expected to join Sunrisers during the summer.
Match summary: Stars won their fourth-round match, having learned to score quickly during what turned out to be a limited-overs match. After rain interrupted play, Stars batters resumed on 48/2 (8.5 overs) Stars withstood a ‘bit of a collapse’ when two wickets fell: (85/2 became 85/4.) Scotland’s Abtaha Maqsood took a ‘4-fer.’ By comparison, only two Sunrisers batters made double-figures. Four top-order batters were caught by Sophia Dunkley, three of which were avoidable ‘carbon copy’ errors when playing the same bowler. Sunrisers faced a lost cause during the 12th over when Danielle Gregory took three wickets without conceding a run: chalking-up a rare hat-trick wicket-maiden.
Match result: South East Stars Women 151/9 beat Sunrisers Women 64/10, by 91 runs – DLS method (Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method, using revised target 156 in 29 overs)
Stars’ batting: 151/9 (@5.20 runs-per-over from 29/29 overs)
Kira Chathli 28(39), Paige Scholfield 27(25), Bryony Smith 21(17), Phoebe Franklin 20(26), Tash Farrant 11(18); Sunrisers’ bowling: Abtaha Maqsood 4/23, Kelly Castle 2/30, Grace Scrivens 1/15, Mady Villiers 1/25’ Kate Coppack 1/31;
Fow 1-5, 2-48, 3-85, 4-85, 5-103, 6-120, 7-126, 8-131, 9-142.
Sunrisers’ batting: 64/10 (@3.76 runs-per-over from 17/29 overs)
Cordelia Griffith 27(29) Kate Coppack 11(15); Stars bowling: Danielle Gregory 4/12, Phoebe Franklin 3/18, Alice Davidson-Richards 1/17, Bryony Smith 1/5, Freya Davies 1/9.
Fow 1-5, 2-5, 3-13, 4-24, 5-41, 6-41, 7-41, 8-41, 9-61, 10-64.
Scorecard with video highlights, courtesy of ECB via NV Play at URL: https://live.nvplay.com/ecb/#m5c3b3284-7556-4f4a-b0cd-0f0e3d4482f9_~scorecard
Full video starts from 38m46s/4h40m58s courtesy of Sunrisers TV on YouTube at URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-oOhAcUfrM
Stars awarded 5 points. Latest England and Wales Cricket Board tables at URL: https://www.ecb.co.uk/matches/rachael-heyhoe-flint/tables
