Western Storm vs Northern Diamonds at Cheltenham, Glos (The College Ground) on 7 July 2024 at 10h30 (delayed start 13h00)
Celebrating the start of Cheltenham Festival Week, Diamond skipper Hollie Armitage (pictured far-right) scored a undefeated ‘ton’ with one ’six’ and 9 ‘fours [101*not out (from 76 balls)]; during a rain-affected match, initially for 34 overs-per-side. Earlier, Fran Wilson hit top-score for Storm [61*not out(63)] enduring heavy rain until lightning ‘stoppage’ took the players off for thirty minutes, for their own safety. When play resumed at 14h35 on 87/3, another four overs were docked from Storms innings, reduced to 30 overs. Between innings, one more over was docked from Diamonds’ reply as a ‘necessary adjustment.’ Separately a ‘reasonable target’ of 204 was set by Umpires, according to the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method. Diamonds were awarded the match with just over two overs to spare.Commentators were Charlie Taylor (BBC radio Bristol), Claire B Jenkins (Women’s cricket commentator, senior lecturer & ex-Somerset & Derbys women) and Ed ‘cricket’ Seabourne (BBC radio Glos. & Bristol.) Weather was stormy at times.
*Storm’s innings *skipper Sophie Luff with Issy Wong (England ‘A’), *Niamh Holland & Sophia Smale (England u-19s), plus Amanda-Jade Wellington (Australia big-bash) & Ellie Anderson; *Without Lauren Filer, Danielle Gibson & Heather Knight (on England call-up); [Bess Heath keeping wicket for Diamonds] *Sophia Smale was caught aerial at ‘mid-on’ by Lauren Winfield-Hill, from Abi Glen’s 10th ball; *Sophie Luff edged behind to keeper Bess Heath, from Rachel Slater’s faster ball; *By mid-way (15/30 ov.) 71/2; *Playing in difficult conditions, Emma Corney was caught at ‘point’ by Sterre Kalis from Phoebe Turner; *Before and after the 15th over, Umpires consulted with each other and continued through ‘heavy’ showers; *As mentioned above (two overs later) lightning prompted players exodus for 30 minutes on 87/3 (timed at 14h05) *Play resumed at 14h35 unexpectedly in bright sunshine, with Diamonds’ innings reduced to 30 overs. *On 92/3 play was paused for Bess Heath concussion-check after struck on her helmet by Rachel Slater’s incoming throw, but was OK ‘wearing a big smile’; *After scoring ‘six,’ Nat Wraith was caught ‘in-the-covers’ by Hollie Armitage from Abi Glen; *Further incident when Rachel Slater left the field floored by a return-strike injury, on 153/4; Commentators added that Diamonds now had ‘ten batters;’ *Sophie Turner completed the remaining 4 balls of Storm’s 26th over; *200 runs chalked-up from the penultimate ball of Erin Burns’ death over; *Fellow Australian Amanda-Jade Wellington was ‘run out’ from the final ball, from a deflection down-the-wicket from the bowler standing at the non-striker’s end; *Storm’s batting: Fran Wilson 61*not out(63), Emma Corney 40(54), Natasha ‘Nat’ Wraith 34(28), Amanda-Jade Wellington 27(14); *Diamonds’ bowling: Abi Glen 2/24, Rachel Slater 1/26, Phoebe Turner 1/39;
*Diamonds’ innings skipper Hollie Armitage (England ‘A’) with Bess Heath (England, England ‘A’) *Katherine Fraser & Rachel Slater (Scotland), *Also with Sterre Kalis (NL), Erin Burns (Australia big bash) & Lauren Winfield-Hill; *Without Leah Dobson, Rebecca Duckworth or Lizzie Scott; [*Natasha ‘Nat’ Wraith keeping wicket forStorm]; *Lauren Winfield-Hill was caught aerial at ‘point’ by Fran Wilson from Ellie Anderson; *Emma Marlow was caught at ‘extra cover’ by Sophie Luff, from Sophia Smale; *After 15/28 ov. 93/2 (vs 71/2); *Sterre Kalis played-on from an inside-edge, from Niamh Holland; Bess Heath was caught ‘deep-of-square’ by Alex Griffiths, from Niamh Holland; *Diamonds’ batting: Hollie Armitage 101*not out (76), Sterre Kalis 34(37), Erin Burns 21*not out(13), Emma Marlow 12(17), Bess Heath 10(7); *Storm’s bowling: Niamh Holland 2/21, Ellie Anderson 1/22, Sophia Smale 1/32;
*Match result: Northern Diamonds 199/4 (@7.4 runs-per-over from 26.4/29 overs DLS target 204 from 29/29 ov.) beat Western Storm 200/5 (@6.6 rpo from 30/30 ov.) by 6 wickets; DLS method.
*Scorecard courtesy of ECB @URL https://www.ecb.co.uk/rachael-heyhoe-flint-trophy/match-centre/104449#scorecard/ AppleMac users may need to scroll down on left margin to select a match
*Video highlights (55) courtesy of Glos Cricket & powered by NV Play @url https://live.nvplay.com/ecb/?tab=m_summary#m83698230-2618-46cd-8c41-9ab31224e21f
*Full match free-to-air courtesy of Glos Cricket (via NV Play) on YouTube<7h47m39s> @url https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pQG0M2lg8M
*Updated fixtures and results @url http://4theloveofsport.co.uk/2024/05/12/updated-rachael-heyhoe-flint-trophy-fixtures-and-results/
