Birmingham Bears (women) vs Surrey (women) (match 41) at the Edgbaston Stadium on Wednesday 9 July 2025 (15h00)
Surrey women chalked-up a resounding win with ‘clinical’ fielding, to stay top-of-table and remain on-track to book their place to qualify for the semi-finals. Bears women did well to recover from three dismissals during their power-play, only to be bowled out by Surrey, after Bears posted what was thought to be a ‘challenging score.’ Apart from fielding, a match-winning partnership between Surrey women batters Phoebe Franklin and Emma Jones turned out to mark the difference between the two teams. Post-match, Bears bowler Millie Taylor told Adam Bridge that Bears thought they put a ‘good total’ on the (score) board; adding that Bears bowlers came back ‘hard,’ as (they knew that) ‘every ball counted.’ Fresh from ‘England A’ matches, Emma Jones [46 runs (from 39 balls) made top-score. Commentators added that Emma Jones’ departure was a ‘huge wicket’ (for Bears) in the context of Surrey’s run-chase. Finally, continuing with Kalea Moore, Alice Davidson-Richards hit the winning ’three’ runs. Commentators: Georgie Heath (Women’s Cricket Chat podcast) with Melinda ‘Mel’ Farrell (Australian cricket journalist) and guest player Chloe Brewer. Also with Adam Bridge and Aaron Viles (Cricketfanaticsmag.com) for Bears TV. Weather ‘Hot and sunny’ 25C.
Bears women wearing ’sky’ blue diamond cheque with yellow trim over dark blue; with yellow helmets and black caps; *skipper Georgia Davis *[Kira Chathli keeping wicket for Surrey] *debutante Phoebe Brett (Worcs Rapids) *with international players Laura Harris (Australia) & Sterre Kalis (NL); *Without Emily ‘Em’ Arlott for England call-up; *also without Abbey Freeborn; *Mis-timing a ‘swipe’ Meg Austin was caught-and-bowled by Alexa Stonehouse, from a ‘leading-edge’ for a second-ball ‘duck’; *Next over, Davina Perrin was caught ‘in-the-deep’ by Alice Monaghan, from Danni Gregory’s full-toss; *’Huge blow’ when Amu Surenkumar ‘who hits a long ball’ was caught aerial by Alice Monaghan, from Alexa Stonehouse; *After 6 overs ‘power-play’ 41/3; *Furious with herself, Katie George was stumped by Kira Chathli, from Bryony Smith; *After 10 overs, 69/4; *Cursed by commentators, Sterre Kalis made a slow departure next ball, caught low-down at ‘short-fine’ by Alexa Stonehouse, from Alice Davidson-Richards; *Three balls later Nat Wraith was caught at ‘point’ by Kalea Moore; *Short of scoring ‘six,’ Laura Harris was caught at ‘backward square’ by Kalea Moore, from Ryana Macdonald-Gay; *Georgia Davis was bowled ‘top-of-off’ by Phoebe Franklin; *Hannah Baker steepled a catch to ‘backward-point,’ caught by Danni Gregory, from Alice Davidson-Richards; *Short of a second run, Phoebe Brett was ‘run-out’ by Phoebe Franklin’s throw from the ‘deep’ to keeper Kira Chathli, receiving at the striker’s end; Bears women batting: Sterre Kalis38(30), Millie Taylor26(27), Nat Wraith 2(13), Laura Harris11(8), Hannah Baker11(12), Surrey women bowling: Alice Davidson-Richards 3/11 , Alexa Stonehouse 2/32, Phoebe Franklin 1/17, Danni Gregory 1/18, Bryony Smith 1/23, Ryana Macdonald-Gay 1/27;
Surrey women wearing light-blue tops over black with black helmets; *skipper Bryony Smith; *[Nat Wraithkeeping wicket for Bears] *with international player Grace Harris (Australia) *with Alice Davidson-Richards, Phoebe Franklin, Danni Gregory & Kalea Moore; without Alice Capsey, Sophia Dunkley or Danni Wyatt-Hodge (England call-ups); *Alice Monaghan was caught by Katie George from Phoebe Brett for a third-ball ‘duck’; *Grace Harris was caught by Davina Perrin, from Georgia Davis; *After 6 overs ‘power-play’ 36/2 (vs 41/3); *After 10 overs 72/2 (vs 69/4); *Cursed by commentators as a ‘partnership to break,’ Bryony Smith went ‘leg-before’ to Georgia Davis; *Next over Kira Chathli was caught by Davina Perrin, from Millie Taylor; *Top-scorer Emma Jones lost her footing, ‘top-edged,’ caught by Meg Austin, from Amu Surenkumar – said to be a ‘huge moment (as noted above); *Phoebe Franklin was caught by Amu Surenkumar, from Millie Taylor; *Kalea Moore and Alice Davidson-Richards scored the remaining 42 runs from 24 balls; Surrey women batting: Emma Jones46(39), Alice Davidson-Richards28(18), Bryony Smith26(26), Kalea Moore22(14), Grace Harris10(9); Bears women bowling: Millie Taylor 2/29, Georgia Davis 2/32, Amu Surenkumar 1/20, Phoebe Brett 1/27;
Match result: Surrey (women) 140/6 (@7.1 runs-per-over from 19.4 overs/target 140 from 20/20 overs) beat Birmingham Bears (women) 139/10 (@7.1 r-p-o from 19.3/20 overs) by four wickets with two balls remaining
*Scorecard with video highlights, courtesy of ECB via nv play at url: https://live.nvplay.com/ecb/?tab=m_summary#c57cfc1a2-3ab0-4115-a135-6caa886587f8_mb1852e08-fb99-42f9-b925-3615b1390b99
*BBC Sport @url: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/scorecard/e-225330 & SKY Sports@url:https://www.skysports.com/cricket/bears-women-v-surrey-women/scorecard/a0e7dfd4-c59e-50b8-8993-dc9b77b1cd2e
*Full match free-to-air, courtesy of Warwickshire CCC (nv play) Bears TV via YouTube [03h17m43s] @url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTAIPFkfFx0
*Edited highlights Bears fall to tight defeat against Surrey | HIGHLIGHTS | Vitality Blast courtesy of Warwickshire CCC(nv play) via YouTube [09m41s]@url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoQROxXQm0Q
*Upcoming League one fixtures @url http://4theloveofsport.co.uk/2025/06/22/vitality-blast-league-one-fixtures-and-results-to-june-2025/
*Upcoming League two fixtures @url http://4theloveofsport.co.uk/2025/07/02/vitality-cup-league-two-fixtures-for-season-2025-2/
