Somerset (women) vs Birmingham Bears (women) (match 44 – league one ’stand-alone’ fixture) at The Coopers Associates County Ground, Taunton on Friday, 11 July 2025 (18h30)
Bears women defended their third position in the T20 table, against Somerset women who’d collected their first win. Dutch international Sterre Kalis -pictured – hit ‘fifty’ for Bears from 38 balls and closed with top-score [51 runs (from 41 balls).] Bowler Mollie Robbins took a career-best 4-fer (taking four wickets/conceding 29 runs) for Somerset. By comparison, Somerset women slipped behind from mid-way, having lost three more wickets than Bears 62/6 (vs 73/3.) Commentators lauded Bears keeper Nat Wraith for her ‘glove work’ that saw Somerset women’s top-scorer Amanda-Jade Wellington stumped well short of ‘fifty.’ Bears best bowler Hannah Baker took a 3-fer (taking three wickets/conceding 32 runs.) Resident commentators Anthony Gibson (Somerset Radio) Peter Trego (as Somerset Cricket’s ambassador) with ‘Charlie from Birmingham,’ for SKY Sports. Also via social media for Somerset Cricket with Dan Wilkins. Weather: sunny evening, augmented by floodlights 22-24C.
Bears women wearing ’sky’ blue diamond cheque with yellow trim over dark blue; with yellow helmets and black caps; *skipper Georgia Davis *[Jess Hazell keeping wicket for Somerset] *with international players Laura Harris (Australia) & Sterre Kalis (NL); *Without Emily ‘Em’ Arlott, Charis Pavely & Issy Wong for England call-up; *also without Abbey Freeborn; *Two wickets fell during the first over of power-play; *Meg Austin mistimed a ‘big swing’ and went ‘leg-before’ to Mollie Robbins for a ‘golden duck;’ *Five balls later, Amu Surenkumar ‘played-on’ to Mollie Robbins; *Davina Perrin was caught comfortably at ‘mid-off’ by Amanda-Jade Wellington, from Mollie Robbins; *After 6 overs ‘power-play’ 51/3; *By ‘mid-way’ 73/3 after 10 overs; *Making a slow departure after scoring ‘fifty,’ Sterre Kalis, was stumped by keeper Jess Hazell, from Chloe Skelton; *Next over, Katie George was caught from a ‘top-edge’ at ‘deep square’ by Bex Odgers, from Mollie Robbins; *Following over, Natasha ‘Nat’ Wraith, was caught ‘in-the-covers’ by Niamh Holland, from Amanda-Jade Wellington; *Laura Harris was caught aerial safely at ‘mid-on’ by Fran Wilson, from Chloe Skelton; *Millie Taylor was caught aerial ‘in-the-covers’ by Niamh Holland, from Erin Vukusic’s slower ball with ‘pace-off’; Bears batting: Sterre Kalis51(41), Laura Harris 29(13), Katie George 28(29), Davina Perrin 20(13); Somerset women bowling: Mollie Robbins 4/29, Chloe Skelton 2/36, Erin Vukusic 1/21, Amanda-Jade Wellington 1/23;
Somerset women wearing pink over black with plum helmets *skipper Niamh Holland [Nat Wraith keeping wicket for Bears]; *international player Amanda-Jade Wellington (Australia ‘A’); Erin Vukusic (Croatia), *without Sophie Luff, Heather Knight, Dani Gibson or Katie Jones; *Niamh Holland was bowled by ‘top-of-middle’ by Phoebe Brett’s left-armed spin; *Mis-timing ‘reverse sweep,’ Ruby Davis was bowled ‘top-of-middle’ by Phoebe Brett; *After 6 overs ‘power-play’ 37/2 (vs 51/3); *Bex Odgers was caught-and-bowled, collected by Hannah Baker diving low-down; *Dropping her bat, Fran Wilson was ‘run-out’ by Amu Surenkumar’s direct-hit to the non-striker’s end, from Millie Taylor; *Jess Hazell, was caught aerial at ‘mid-wicket’ by Laura Harris, from Hannah Baker; *Mis-timing a ‘sweep’ next over, Alex Griffiths was bowled ‘top-of-middle’ by Millie Taylor; *By ‘mid-way’ 62/6 (vs 73/3) after 10 overs; *Mis-timing a ‘slog,’ top-scorer Amanda-Jade Wellington was stumped by Natasha Wraith, from Hannah Baker; *Next over, Mollie Robbins mis-timed a ‘huge heave’ and was stumped by Natasha Wraith, from Millie Taylor; *Finally, Chloe Skelton was ‘run-out’ by Laura Harris throw to keeper Nat Wraith at the striker’s end, from the final innings ball; Somerset batting: Amanda-Jade Wellington 33(25), Chloe Skelton 23(28), Bex Odgers21(25), Fran Wilson17(10); Bears women bowling: Hannah Baker 3/32, Phoebe Brett 2/17, Millie Taylor 2/27;
Match result: Birmingham Bears (women) 149/8 (@7.4 runs-per-over from 20/20overs) beat Somerset (women) 127/9 (@6.3 r-p-o from 20/20 overs/target 150 from 20/20ov) by 22 runs
*Scorecard with video highlights, courtesy of ECB via nv play at url: https://live.nvplay.com/ecb/?tab=m_summary#mdcf7d1af-ffcb-40fd-9536-53dcd5033190
*BBC Sport @url: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/scorecard/e-225333 & SKY Sports@url: https://www.skysports.com/cricket/somerset-women-v-bears-women/scorecard/0338e6bf-c400-5f16-aa8b-199890d7e60d
*Match highlights courtesy of Warwickshire County Cricket Club [09m44s] via YouTube @URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQLCwT3MvSM
*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/
