Leicestershire Foxes women vs Gloucestershire women – (match 44, league two) at the Upton Steel County Ground Leicester, on Saturday 30 August 2025 (10h30)
Fifth-placed Gloucestershire women narrowly missed-out on a semi-final place, beating Leicestershire Foxes by a narrow margin. By comparison, Yorks women bagged bonus points for winning their match by a wide margin. Foxes womens in-form batter Francesca Sweet made top-score with ‘fifty,’ [55 runs (from 59 balls).] Aimee Colquhoun also posted ‘fifty,’ having previously returned from injury. Alice Bird took a consolation 3-fer (taking 3 wickets/conceding 37 runs.) Gloucestershire women’s reply was dominated by a century second-wicket stand between Prarthana Reddy 91*not out (from 90 balls) and Meg Ahearne 50(77). Following rain interruptions, the match reached a pivotal moment when Foxes bowlers briefly fought back, conceding 13 runs during five overs. Reduced targets following rain interruptions saw Gloucestershire women across-the-line.
Foxes women wearing red-with-green-splash with dark-green pads & helmets; *skipper Rebecca ‘Becki’ Brooker; *[Meg Ahearne keeping wicket for Glos]*with D’Nica Roff (Blaze academy loan) without Lucy Higham, *also without Ellen Watson (Scotland international); *Lucy Weston was bowled by Alice Bird’s in-swing to ‘middle-and-leg;’ *After ten overs power-play: 43/1; *Rebecca ‘Becki’ Brooker was caught aerial at ‘square’ by Alice Bird, from Chloe Skelton; *After 25overs 108/2; *Mis-timing to ‘square,’ Hayley Brown went ‘leg-before’ to Melissa Story; *Francesca Sweet was caught at ‘deep-mid-wicket’ Georgina Cant, from Chloe Skelton; *Returning, but failing to make her ground, Sophie Bennett was ‘run -out’ from ‘mid-wicket’ by Alice Bird’s throw to keeper Meg Ahearne receiving at the striker’s end; *Mis-timing across-the-line, Ella Phillips was bowled ‘middle-and-leg’ beneath her bat, by Alice Bird; *D’Nica Roff was caught aerial at ‘deep-mid-wicket’ by Melissa Story, from Caitlin Belcher; *Aimee Colquhoun was caught at ‘point’ by Chloe Skelton, from Caitlin Belcher; *Holly Whitfield was caught aerial at ‘cover’ by Prarthana Reddy, from Alice Bird; Foxes women batting: FrancescaSweet55(59), Aimee Colquhoun53(48), Hayley Brown34(67), Sophie Bennett30(54), Rebecca ‘Becki’ Brooker24(35); Gloucestershire women bowling: Alice Bird 3/37, Chloe Skelton 2/51, Caitlin Belcher 2/51, Melissa Story 1/22;
Gloucestershire women wearing yellow bibs over black with yellow shoulder stripes; *Skipper Olivia ‘Liv’ Daniels *[Sophie Bennett keeping wicket for Foxes;] *Meg Ahearne (Scotland international) *with Jess Hazell & Chloe Skelton (Somerset loans), *also with Melissa Story (BBC professional cricket broadcaster); *Mis-timing across-the-line, Becca Halliday was bowled by Emma Thatcher; *After ten overs power-play: 24/1 (vs 43/1); *Megan Ahearne was stumped by fellow keeper Sophie Bennett, from Ellie Phillips; *Rain delay at 24.1 overs, with revised DLS target score of 252 from 48 overs. *After 25overs 118/2 (vs 108/2); *Further rain delay at 33 overs, with revised DLS target score of 139 from 48 overs. Match ended as with Gloucestershire women declared as winners, having already exceeded the target score. Gloucestershire women batting: Prarthana Reddy91*not out(90) Meg Ahearne50(77); Foxes women bowling: Ellie Phillips 1/20, Emma Thatcher 1/20;
Match result: Gloucestershire women 166/2 (@ 5runs-per-over from 33/33overs, revised target 139 from 33/33 ov.) beat Leicestershire Foxes women 259/9 (@5 r-p-o from 50/50overs) by 28 runs, Duckworth-Lewis-Stern DLS method
*Scorecard with video highlights, courtesy of ECB via nv play at url: https://live.nvplay.com/ecb/?tab=m_summary#mdc32f61c-3317-4d22-9edd-60d78ccc7955
*BBC Sport @url: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/scorecard/e-225619 & SKY Sports@url: https://www.skysports.com/cricket/leicestershire-foxes-women-v-gloucestershire-women/scorecard/5608e66b-31a5-58f5-8e37-b6767e4a21b7
*Full match without commentary free-to-air, courtesy of Foxes TV Cricket (nv play) via YouTube [07h32m42s] @url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VW3Iq4qVU0w
*Upcoming League one fixtures @url http://4theloveofsport.co.uk/2025/05/22/metro-bank-league-one-fixtures-and-results-up-to-may-2025/
*Upcoming League two fixtures @url http://4theloveofsport.co.uk/2025/05/25/metro-bank-league-two-fixtures-and-results-up-to-may-2025/
