Western Storm vs Central Sparks at Taunton (The Cooper Associates County Ground, Somerset) on 26 August 2024
Sparks chalked-up their highest-ever score at 50 overs, beating their previous best by one run. Scoring her second ‘130’ century of the season, skipper Eve Jones was partnered by keeper-batter Abbey Freeborn (who stood-in for Amy Jones) to set not only a record third-wicket stand, but also bagged the record for all Sparks’ wickets. Commentators announced that centurion Sparks skipper Eve Jones had scored the fourth-highest individual score in the history of the competition. Good fortune favoured Sparks as skipper Jones was dropped early-on and fast bowler Lauren Filer was removed from Storm’s bowling attack for delivering two ‘beamers’ during the same over. Yet it seemed ironic that the few Sparks wickets that did fall were bagged by bowlers ‘on loan’ to Storm, for whom Sparks had granted special permission to play.
Faced by a mammoth score, Storm did well to post comparable scores by mid-way [127/4 (vs 126/2).] The highlight of Storm’s reply was skipper Sophie Luff’s 73 runs partnership with u-19 starlet Sophia Smale, whose ‘fifty’ came from 43 balls. Once ‘All-rounder’ Georgia Davis took career-best figures of 6/23, Storm realised they’d been beaten ‘comprehensively’ for an eighth time this season. Sparks swapped places with Storm in the results table, with neither team having sufficient points to qualify for the semi-finals. Commentators were Claire B Jenkins (Women’s cricket commentator, senior lecturer & ex-Somerset & Derbys women); Ed ‘cricket’ Seabourne SW (BBC Radio Bristol & BBC Radio Glos) and Dr Hannah Thompson-Radford (Sports media journalist). Weather: glorious sunny day, 22-24C.
*Sparks’ innings: skipper Evelyn ‘Eve’ Jones with Hannah Baker (both England ‘A’), Charis Pavely, Davina Perrin (England u19s), without Amy Jones (England) [*Nat Wraith keeping wicket for Storm]; *Ami Campbell was bowled from an inside-edge, from Issy Wong; *After 10 overs Power-play 50/1; *Receiving her 50th cap, Davina Perrin was bowled by Ellie Anderson’s in-swing; *After 25 overs on 126/2; *Commentator’s curse struck when announcing that centurion Sparks skipper Eve Jones had scored the fourth-highest individual score in the history of the competition, was two runs short of third-place; and six runs short of her personal best (136*not out) scored against Thunder during May (at Old Trafford); *Next ball, Eve Jones was caught at ‘extra cover’ by opposing skipper Sophie Luff from Ellie Anderson; *Abbey Freeborn stayed undefeated; *Sparks’ batting: Eve Jones 130(163), Abbey Freeborn 89*not out (94), Davina Perrin 20(26), Ami Campbell 10(14); *Storm’s bowling: Ellie Anderson 2/46, Issy Wong 1/58;
*Storm’s innings: skipper Sophie Luff with Sophia Smale, Chloe Skelton & Ellie Anderson (England u19s) Ellie Anderson & Issy Wong loaned by Sparks; *Without Heather Knight or Danni Gibson (England); [*Abbey Freeborn keeping wicket for Sparks]; *Emma Corney went aerial from a ‘top-edge,’ and was caught-and-bowled by Grace Potts; *After 10 overs Power-play 65/1 (vs 50/1); *Sophie Luff chipped to ‘mid-on,’ caught by Hannah Baker from Georgia Davis; *Top scorer with fifty,’ Sophia Smale was caught at ‘mid-off’ by Eve Jones, from Hannah Baker; *Next over, Fran Wilson went ‘leg-before’ to Georgia Davis; *Drinks taken after 25 overs on 127/4 (vs 126/2); *Niamh Holland was caught Georgia Davis from Charis Pavely; *Alex Griffith was caught by Katie George from Charis Pavely;*Nat Wraith was stumped by Abbey Freeborn from Georgia Davis *Sent out ‘early,’ Issy Wong was bowled by Georgia Davis; *Four balls later, Chloe Skelton was also bowled by Georgia Davis; *Finally, Lauren Filer was stumped by Abbey Freeborn from Georgia Davis; *Storm’s batting: Sophia Smale 53(47), Sophie Luff 23(38), Natasha ‘Nat’ Wraith 21(25), Niamh Holland 16(32), Emma Corney 13(14); *Sparks bowling: Georgia Davis 6/23, Charis Pavely 2/15, Hannah Baker 1/34, Grace Potts 1/46;
Match result: Central Sparks 297/3 (@ 5.9 runs-per-over from 50/50 overs) beat Western Storm 152/10 (4.6 r-p-o target 298 from 33/50 ov.) by 145 runs with 102 balls remaining
*Scorecard and video highlights when available courtesy of ECB (via NV Play) @url https://www.ecb.co.uk/rachael-heyhoe-flint-trophy/match-centre/104462#scorecard *AppleMac users may need to scroll down on left margin to select a match
*Full match free-to-air courtesy of Western Storm (NV Play) via YouTube <07h21m02s> @url https://www.youtube.com/live/nR5jLaBI07M
*Updated fixtures and results @url http://4theloveofsport.co.uk/2024/08/23/updated-rachael-heyhoe-flint-trophy-fixtures-and-results-2/
