Central Sparks vs Southern Vipers at Worcester (New Road) on 30 August 2024 (10h30)
Missing key England Internationals, top-of-table Vipers went down to an unexpected defeat by Sparks, said to have 5% chance to qualify for the semi-finals. Batting first, four Vipers wickets apiece went to Em Arlott (4/15) and another four to Charis Pavely (4/31), leaving Vipers batters short of the 200-mark. Georgia Elwiss played anchor with ‘fifty.’ Scoring back-to-back ‘fifties,’ Eve Jones played a skipper’s innings, her opening partnership with Ami Campbell providing a ‘platform’ for Sparks’ run-chase. A second partnership between Abbey Freeborn and Katie George who hit the winning ‘four;’ won the match by a wide margin-of-safety.Despite losing, Vipers stay top-of-table and remain confident as defending champions to qualify for the semi-finals. Commentators were Claire B Jenkins (Women’s cricket commentator, senior lecturer & ex-Somerset & Derbys women), Dr Hannah Thompson-Radford (Sports media journalist) with guest Barbara Daniels, (ECB National Manager for Women’s Cricket & ex England Women.) Weather was cool with cloud cover 15C.
*Vipers’ Innings skipper Georgia Adams (England ‘A’), with Linsey Smith (England ‘A’), Freya Davies (England); *Also with Ava Lee, Abi Norgrove & Mary Taylor (England u-19s) *without Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier Charlie Dean & Danni Wyatt on England call-up [Abbey Freeborn keeping wicket for Sparks]; *After 10 ov. Power-play 54/0; *Rhianna Southby ‘top-edged,’ caught at ‘square’ by Charis Pavely (gaffed as Katie George) from Emily ‘Em’ Arlott; *Ella McCaughan was bowled ‘top-of-middle’ by Emily ‘Em’ Arlott; *Georgia Adams ‘nudged behind,’ caught by keeper Abbey Freeborn from Emily ‘Em’ Arlott; *During the 25th over, Emily Windsor went for a ‘carbon-copy’ dismissal, caught behind by keeper Abbey Freeborn from Emily ‘Em’ Arlott, for a fifth-ball duck; *After 25 overs (mid-way) 92/4; *Playing across-the-line, Abi Norgrove went ‘leg-before’ to Hannah Baker; *Nancy Harman was bowled ‘through-the-gate’ with bails flying, by Charis Pavely; *Promoted one place ‘up-the-order’ Linsey Smith was bowled by Georgia Davis; *Three balls later, Mary Taylor went ‘leg-before’ to Charis Pavely for a second-ball duck; *Another three balls later Freya Davies was bowled by Charis Pavely; *Finally, Ava Lee was bowled by Charis Pavely; *Vipers’ batting: Georgia Elwiss 64*not out(86), Rhianna Southby 36(43), Ella McCaughan 26(54), Nancy Harman 16(31), Abi Norgrove 11(21), Ava Lee 10(28); Sparks’ Bowling: Emily ‘Em’ Arlott 4/15, Charis Pavely 4/31, Hannah Baker 1/32, Georgia Davis 1/32;
*Sparks’ innings: skipper Eve Jones with Hannah Baker (both England ‘A’) Charis Pavely, Davina Perrin (England u19s) without Amy Jones (England) [*Rhianna Southby keeping wicket for Vipers]; *After 10 overs Power-play 45/0 (vs 54/0); *As mentioned above, opening partnership between Eve Jones and Ami Campbell banked 95 runs, that included 14 ‘fours;’ *Ami Campbell was caught-and-bowled by Ava Lee; *After 25 overs on 116/1 (vs 92/4); *Davina Perrin was caught by keeper Eve Jones was caught by keeper Rhianna Southby from Georgia Adams; *Eve Jones was caught by Georgia Elwiss from Georgia Adams; *Match-winning partnership between Abbey Freeborn (anchor) and Katie George who hit one ‘six’ and 6 ‘fours’ including the winning ‘four;’ *Sparks’ batting: Eve Jones 54(78), Katie George 38*not out (29), Abbey Freeborn 17*not out (36), Davina Perrin 13(30), Ami Campbell 48(63); *Vipers’ bowling: Georgia Adams 2/34, Ava Lee 1/29;
*Match result: Central Sparks 184/3 (@4.6 runs-per-over from 39.2/50 overs) beat Southern Vipers 183/10 (@3.7 r-p-o from 48.4/50 overs) by seven wickets (with 64 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/104461#scorecard *AppleMac users may need to scroll down on left margin to select a match
*Full match free-to-air courtesy of Central Sparks (NV Play) via YouTube <06h01m44s> @url https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ-NPhqi118
*Updated fixtures and results @url http://4theloveofsport.co.uk/2024/08/23/updated-rachael-heyhoe-flint-trophy-fixtures-and-results-2/
