South East Stars vs Northern Diamonds – at Beckenham (The County Ground, Kent) on 2 July 2023 (10h30)
Defending champions Diamonds leap-frogged Stars into second place, beating Stars home-and-away in both fifth and sixth rounds. With both sides depleted by England ‘call-up,’ acting skipper Lauren Winfield-Hill (pictured) had told reporters that she was making a ‘conscious effort’ to play with Diamonds missing ‘both captains (Hollie Armitage) and keepers’ (Bess Heath.) Scoring more than half of Diamond’s winning total, she chalked-up this season’s second highest score-to-date at 50-overs (with 116*not out runs.) Separately as keeper, Lauren Winfield-Hill took three catches. As noted below, latest statistics also reveal that Winfield-Hill now tops the batting leader board with 336 runs. Stats also reveal that two Diamonds bowlers Katie Levick (12 wickets) and Jess Woolston (11 wickets) hold 2nd & 3rd places for taking most wickets from matches played-to-date. Video highlights via ECB online (NV-Play): please see below. Weather at Beckenham was equally cloudy, with bright sunny spells and a blustery westerly breeze 20C.
Stars Innings *Acting skipper Danielle Gregory with Bryony Smith called-up by England ‘A’. *[Lauren Winfield-Hill kept wicket for Diamonds.] *Scotland debutantes Priya Chatterji & Darcey Carter (Scots u-19s); plus debutante Tazmin Brits (Republic of South Africa.) *Separately, Stars were missing Alice Capsey, Freya Davies, Alice Davidson-Richards & Sophia Dunkley from England call-up. *Stars lost both their openers to carbon-copy dismissals during the power play; both from Jess Woolston (2/29); who was partnered by Lizzy Scott bowling from the opposite end. *Kira Chathli 11 runs (from 13 balls) snicked an edge; and Alexa Stonehouse 9(25) and was caught one-handed bykeeper Lauren Winfield-Hill. *After ten overs power play, Stars were 30/2. *Next over, spinner Katie Levick, paired with Grace Hall bowled the next 11 overs. *South Africa’s Tazmin Brits 17(25) went ‘leg before’ when playing to Katie Levick’s (2/37) 5th delivery. *Breakthrough came when Stars lost two wickets with five balls: Jemima Spence 13(27) was caught by Chloe Tryon from Katie Levick; & Kalea Moore was caught for a 3rd ball duck by Lauren Winfield-Hill (third keeper’s catch) from Grace Hall. *South Africa’s Chloe Tryon paired with Emma Marlow took another wicket when Maddie Blinkhorn-Jones 10(15) lobbed a return-catch to Emma Marlow (1/31.) *Stars reached 97/6 by mid-way and got ‘back into the game’ when Chloe Hill and Bethan Miles’ built a seventh-wicket partnership that added 81 runs. *Pivotal moment during an extended 39th over during which Grace Hall took 2 wickets but gifted 11 ‘wides.’ *Firstly, Bethan Miles 28(45) lobbed a leg-side dolly, caught at ‘square’ by Phoebe Turner. *Six balls later, Scotland’s Darcey Carter’s 2(4) stumps were skittled by Grace Hall. *By contrast, Grace Hall’s next over conceded no ‘wides,’ bagging her ‘4-fer’ (4/33.) *Stars’ top-scorer Chloe Hill 63(80) lobbed a ‘leg-side’ dolly, caught at ‘mid-on’ by Chloe Tryon. *Scotland’s Priya Chatterji 15*not out(22) nudged Stars’ total past 200, partnered by stand-in skipper Danielle Gregory 4(18.) *Stars innings closed four overs prematurely when skipper Gregory was sent back by Priya Chatterji, and was ‘run out’ by keeper Lauren Winfield-Hill receiving at the striker’s end, from Jess Woolston’s final delivery.
Diamonds Innings *Acting skipper Lauren Winfield-Hill. *Without Hollie Armitage & Bess Heath, from England ‘A’ call-up. *[Kira Chathli keeping wicket for Stars.] *International players Chloe Tryon (Republic of South Africa), Sterre Kalis (NL) & Katherine Fraser (Scotland.) *50 overs debutante Grace Hall. *Opener Sterre Kalis 6 runs (from 9 balls) set-off for a run ‘that wasn’t there’ and was ‘run out,’ unable to recover her ground with both batters standing at the non-striker’s end; from Bethan Miles’ spin. *After ten overs Diamonds were 56/1 (vs 30/2); and 83/2 (vs 59/3) after 16.4 overs (100 balls.) *Diamonds 2nd wicket partnership added 49 runs before Emma Marlow 20(39) missed a ‘square-cut,’ going ‘leg-before’ to Scotland’s Darcey Carter’s spin. *Two overs later, Phoebe Turner 2(10) was caught (leg side) from Scotland’s Darcey Carter’s spin (2/31.) *By mid-way Diamonds had scored more runs at a faster rate and lost half as many wickets: 137/3 (vs 97/6.) *Finally, as mentioned above, Lauren Winfield-Hill scored her first century of this year’s 50-over contest and ‘carried her bat’ undefeated (with 116* runs not out.) *South Africa’s Chloe Tryon made ‘fifty’ (57*not out.) *Both Lauren Winfield-Hill and Chloe Tryon scored faster than one-run-per-ball. *Diamonds won by a comfortable margin with 17 overs to spare.
Summary Batting first, Stars staged a 7th wicket recovery (between top-scorer Chloe Hill & Bethan Miles) that posted 83 runs toward a defendable score: 205, closing four overs prematurely. Diamonds won with a faster run-rate, losing fewer wickets with a comfortable margin of 17 overs to spare. Acting skipper Lauren Winfield-Hill (former England player) carried her bat, scoring a match-winning ‘ton,’ partnered by South Africa’s Chloe Tryon who made ‘fifty. Defending champions Diamonds (4 wins, 2 losses, 19 points) gained a bonus point and leapfrog into second-place ahead of third-placed Stars (3 wins, 3 losses, 15 points); after six rounds played-to-date.
Result: Northern Diamonds Women 209/3 (target 206) beat South East Stars Women 205/10 by 7 wickets (with 102 balls remaining)
*Stars’ batting: 205/10 (@4.4 runs-per-over from 46/50 overs); Chloe Hill 63(80), Bethan Miles 28(45), Tazmin Brits 17(25), Priyanaz ‘Priya’ Chatterji 15*not out(22), Jemima Spence 13(27), Kira Chathli 11(13), Maddie Blinkhorn-Jones 10(15); *Diamonds bowling: Grace Hall 4/33, Jess Woolston 2/29, Katie Levick 2/37, Emma Marlow 1/31; Fow 1-13, 2-24, 3-49, 4-66, 5-67, 6-91, 7-172, 8-180, 9-185, 10-205.
*Diamonds’ batting: 209/3 (@6.3 r-p-o from 33/50 overs); Lauren Winfield-Hill 116*not out(100), Chloe Tryon 57*not out(44), Emma Marlow 20(39); *Stars bowling: Darcey Carter 2/31; Fow 1-33, 2-82, 3-86.
*Scorecard with video highlights, courtesy of ECB & Yorkshire CCC via NV-Play on YouTube at URL: https://yorkshireccc.com/match/sestar-v-ndiam-rachael-heyhoe-flint-trophy-2-jul/?tab=m_scorecard
*Match free-to-air (Full coverage starts from Stars’ score 69/5; 04h10m03s) with fixed cameras and without commentary via YouTube at URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD1A2SI2jTE
*Latest stats at URL: https://live.nvplay.com/ecb/?tab=c_stats#cfe6ae2eb-42c0-419f-8c45-68f7f498cd51
