Unbeaten Blaze made light-work of chasing down winning target set by defending champions Diamonds, scoring nearly twice-as-fast as their opponents (7.6 runs-per-over vs 4r-p-o.) England’s Tammy Beaumont 83*not out (62) made top-score: that included 2 ‘sixes;’ partnered by Scotland’s Sarah Bryce 53*not out (61): who also made ‘fifty.’ Their match-winning partnership of 156 runs saw Blaze home with 25 overs to spare. Short video highlights from ECB online (NV-play) courtesy of Trent Bridge Cricket for ‘The Blaze’ (please see below.) Weather at Chesterfield was described as mainly sunny, 15-20C.
Diamonds’ Innings *Skipper Hollie Armitage *[Sarah Bryce keeping wicket for Blaze] Diamonds unchanged. *International players Chloe Tryon (Republic of South Africa) and Sterre Kalis (NL) Including Hollie Armitage & Bess Heath (England ‘A’.) *After ten overs power play, Diamonds were 52/0. *Sterre Kalis 12(33) was caught by Georgie Boyce from skipper Kirstie Gordon *Hollie Armitage 8(15) missed a square-cut,’ and caught at ‘slip’ by Marie Kelly also from skipper Gordon. *After 100 balls (16.4 overs) Diamonds were 72/2. *Emma Marlow 11(18) was caught behind by keeper Sarah Bryce from Lucy Higham. *Lauren Winfield Hill 56(58) was clean-bowled also by Lucy Higham. *By mid-way (25 overs) Diamonds were 131/4. Disaster struck mid-way when 2 wickets fell to consecutive balls (losing Bess Heath & Phoebe Turner.) *Bess Heath 25(19) caught by Marie Kelly from Sophie Munro *Next ball, Phoebe Turner went for a first ball duck, also from Sophie Munro.*Lizzie Scott went for a 12th ball duck, from Sophie Munro (3/35.) *Leah Dobson 24(28) was caught behind by keeper Sarah Bryce from Cassidy McCarthy. *Katie Levick 1(6) was caught by keeper Sarah Bryce also from Cassidy McCarthy (2/17.) *Finally, Jess Woolston was caught by Marie Kelly from Teresa Graves 13(38.) *Only one Diamonds player (Lauren Winfield-Hill) made ‘fifty.’ *Best bowlers were Sophie Munro 3/35; & debutante Cassidy McCarthy (2/17.)
Blaze’s Innings *Skipper Kirstie Gordon *[Lauren Winfield-Hill keeping wicket for Diamonds] *Debutante Cassidy McCarthy 20yo; without Grace Ballinger (England Ashes.) *International players Nadine deKlerk & Michaela Kirk (Republic of South Africa) with Scotland’s Kathryn & Sarah Bryce. After ten overs power play, Blaze were 61/1. *As the only player to score ‘sixes,’ England’s Tammy Beaumont 83*not out (62) made top-score, partnered by Scotland’s Sarah Bryce 53*not out (61) who also made ‘fifty’ *Both batters reached their target with an impressive margin-of-safety with 25 overs to spare. *Diamonds’ sole wicket-taker was Katie Levick 1/40; four other bowlers gifting 25 ‘wides’ to boost their opponent’s score.
Match summary Previously when playing Diamonds (on May 6) Blaze’s Nadine deKlerk took a match-winning career-best 7/33 as Diamonds slumped to 62. Diamonds got themselves back into the game when Chloe Tryon took 4/16. Remarkably, on this occasion, there was a marked difference in performance, between each team. Blaze bowler Sophie Munro took Diamonds wickets with consecutive balls, with expectation for a ‘hat-trick,’ when chalking-up her ‘wicket-maiden.’ Turning to Blaze’s reply, as mentioned above, Tammy Beaumont and Sarah Bryce made ‘fifties,’ their match-winning partnership of 156 runs saw Blaze home with 25 overs to spare. Concluding, Blaze are unbeaten after 7 rounds and remain top by a wide margin (28 points.) Defending champions Diamonds stay second but share second-place with Sparks (both teams with 19 points.)
Match result: ‘The Blaze’ Women 189/1 (target 186 from 50 overs) beat ‘Northern Diamonds’ Women 185/10; by 9 wickets with 151 balls remaining
*Diamonds’ batting: 185/10 (45.5 overs, 4.0 runs-per-over); Lauren Winfield-Hill 56(58), Bess Heath 25(19), Leah Dobson 24(28), Grace Hall 21*not out (49), Sterre Kalis 12(33) Emma Marlow 11(18); *Blaze’s bowling: Sophie Munro 3/35, Cassidy McCarthy 2/17, Lucy Higham 2/35, Kirstie Gordon 2/38, Teresa Graves 1/24; Fow 1-55, 2-71, 3-92, 4-105, 5-131, 6-131, 7-145, 8-146, 9-147, 10-185.
*Blaze’s batting: 189/1 (24.5/50 overs, 7.6 runs-per-over); Tammy Beaumont 83*not out (62), Sarah Bryce 53*not out(61), Marie Kelly 16(26); *Diamonds bowling: Katie Levick 1/40; Fow 1-33.
*Scorecard & Statistics with video highlights, courtesy of ECB via NV Play at URL: https://live.nvplay.com/ecb/?tab=m_scorecard#cfe6ae2eb-42c0-419f-8c45-68f7f498cd51_m9b66641a-e4bc-48c3-aa23-dedad5aa0f4a & BBC Sport @URL: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/scorecard/ECKE1000552
*Marie Kelly’s wicket, courtesy of Trent Bridge Cricket (for ‘The Blaze’) via NV-Play on YouTube (at 10:50/14m41) at URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUKGjiNPOB4
