Western Storm vs Northern Diamonds Taunton, at The Cooper Associates County Ground (Somerset) on September 10
Before the match, Head Coach Dani Hazell had told reporters she had optimism to ‘make something happen’ for ‘Diamonds’ to reach the up-coming Eliminator match to defend last year’s title. Since then, ‘Diamonds’ lost three matches in-a-row, narrowing their title defence aspirations down to ‘wafer-thin.’ Star batter Lauren Winfield-Hill (pictured) top-scored for ‘Diamonds’ hitting 83 runs (from 92 balls) and staged a century opening-partnership with Dutch international Sterre Kalis 45(from 47.) By comparison, ’Storm’ look set to receive their inaugural ‘wooden spoon.’ One highlight was skipper Sophie Luff hitting her season’s best 87(from 105), with two key partnerships that gave confidence to batters Natasha Wraith and Fran Wilson who both made ‘fifty.’ Video highlights courtesy of ECB (NV Play) & Western Storm (please see below) Weather at Taunton improved, after early rain shortened the match to 43 overs per side.
Diamonds innings *Skipper Hollie Armitage [*Natasha Wraith keeping wicket for Storm;] *Debutante Sophia Turner, on-loan from North West Thunder *International player Sterre Kalis (NL) *Without Bess Heath (England call-up) *After 10-overs ‘Power-play’ ‘Diamonds’ were 50 without loss. *Century opening partnership between Sterre Kalis and Lauren Winfield-Hill banked 101 runs. *Sterre Kalis 45(47) was ‘run out’ at the non-striker’s end by Mollie Robbins *By mid-way, ‘Diamonds’ were 145/1. *After hitting Chloe Skelton for ‘six,’ Hollie Armitage 45(48) went aerial, caught ‘in the deep’ by Alex Griffiths, from Mollie Robbins. *Lauren Winfield-Hill 83(92) who hit ten ‘fours,’ was caught at ‘cover’ by Fran Wilson, from Mollie Robbins *93 runs were added by Leah Dobson (who hit Niamh Holland 1st ball for ’six’): 68 not out (50); partnered by *Emma Marlow who was 23*not out (21.) *Best ‘Diamonds batter was Lauren Winfield-Hill 83(92) *Only one Storm bowler was successful , Mollie Robbins (2/41.)
Storm innings *Skipper Sophie Luff [*Lauren Winfield-Hill keeping wicket for Diamonds] *With Mollie Robbins, who made her ’Storm’ debut in 2021, but played no matches last year. *Without Heather Knight or Danielle Gibson (England call-up) *Alex Griffiths went ‘leg-before’ to Lizzie Scott’s in-swing. *Emma Corney 10(17) caught Lauren Winfield-Hill bowled Sophia Turner (1/31) *After 10-overs ‘Power-play’ ‘Storm’ were 42/2 (vs 50/0) *Century 3rd wicket partnership between Sophie Luff and Fran Wilson added 107 runs *Fran Wilson 57(56) ‘reverse-swept’ to Rebecca Duckworth from Hollie Armitage (1/52) *By mid-way, ‘Storm’ were 129/3 (vs 145/1) *Niamh Holland 5(5) was bowled ‘through the gate’ by Katie Levick. *6th wicket stand of 69 runs between Sophie Luff & Natasha Wraith. *Sophie Luff 87(105) swung around and was stumped Lauren Winfield-Hill from Katie Levick (2/61) *Natasha Wraith 61 (44) was caught by Sterre Kalis, from Lizzie Scott (2/30) *Sophia Smale 5 was ‘run out’ by Lizzie Scott’s direct hit *Chloe Skelton was 9*not out (11); Nicole Harvey was 1*not out (3.) *Top scorer Sophie Luff 87(105.) Best ‘Diamonds’ bowler was Lizzie Scott (2/30.)
Match summary: Diamonds took to the field having lost one more match than Storm, but with two more wins placing them higher-up the group-stage table. With seven overs-per-side docked for ‘early morning’ rain, both sides scored around one-run-per-ball despite a drying outfield. As mentioned abive, Star batter Lauren Winfield-Hill top-scored for ‘Diamonds’ hitting 83 runs (from 92 balls); staged a century opening-partnership with Dutch international Sterre Kalis 45(from 47.) Further down the scorecard, Leah Dobson, hit an unbeaten ‘fifty,’ partnered by Emma Marlow. Together, the pair added another 93 for ‘Diamonds,’ chalking-up a record final score for 43 overs in the 50 overs competition. Storm’s skipper Sophie Luff eplied with two key partnerships with batters both scoring ‘fifty.’ Firstly, a century partnership with former England player Fran Wilson added 107 runs. Secondly, batting with keeper Natasha Wraith added another 63 runs. Although Sophie Luff hit top-score of the match with a season’s best 87(from 105) ‘Storm’ closed agonisingly 31 runs short of their run-chase. With two group-stage matches remaining (at time of writing) 5th-placed Diamonds’ (25 points) have an outside chance to qualify beyond the group stage. Without anyn such pressure, ‘Storm’ are playing for their own pride.
Match result: Northern Diamonds 281/3 (43 overs) beat Western Storm 250/7 (43 overs), by 31 runs
*Diamonds batting: 281/3 (@6.5 runs-per-over from 43/43 overs) Lauren Winfield-Hill 83(92), Leah Dobson 68*not out (50), Hollie Armitage 45(48), Sterre Kalis 45(47), Emma Marlow 23*not out (21); *Storm bowling: Mollie Robbins 2/41; Fow 1-101, 2-177, 3-188.
*Storm batting: 250/7 (@5.8 r-p-o from 43/43 overs)Sophie Luff 87(105), Natasha Wraith 61(44), Fran Wilson 57(56), Emma Corney 10(17); *Diamonds bowling Lizzie Scott 2/30, Katie Levick 2/61 ,Sophia Turner 1/31, Hollie Armitage 1/52; Fow 1-8, 2-17, 3-124, 4-135, 5-204, 6-239, 7-241.
*Scorecard courtesy of ECB @URL https://www.ecb.co.uk/rachael-heyhoe-flint-trophy/matches/35819#scorecard
*Video highlights, courtesy of ECB (NV Play) & Western Storm @URL https://westernstorm.co.uk/fixtures-results/#vd09d4395-3bb6-4239-a212-9a1cd566d175
*No livestream video commentary was available at time of writing
