Women’s Vitality Blast ‘league two’ top-ten for 2026

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Women’s Vitality Blast (2026): top-ten batters and bowlers strike-rates ‘sr’ at group-stage from ‘league two’ 

*History was made when Saskia Horley  – pictured scored the competition’s first ‘ton’ (from 47 balls) and highest individual score as Middlesex womens skipper: 111 from 56 balls, on June 5. *For new readers, understanding a batter’s impact is not a case of simply taking those who slogged the most runs or listing bowlers who took most wickets in one single match. *Few ‘League two’ amateurs (or Academy intake) batted or bowled in every single match. *As a rough guide, previous analysis revealed that between formats, ‘batters score at faster strike-rates when playing T20 than at 50 overs’ even though the standard ODI ‘power play’ is longer (60 balls versus 36 balls for t20.) Also, ‘most players struggle to hit a strike-rate of one-run-per ball.’ *For favourable comparison, analysis is confined to players from each team competing in the competition’s ‘group stage’ (up to 8 matches.) For clarity, ‘semi-finals’ and ‘final’ performance beyond ‘group stage’ matches are ‘additional to,’ but ‘excluded from’ all analysis:-

A) ‘Top ten’ performers with highest batters strike rates ’sr’ and with best performance (highest score/ scoring at least one ‘fifty)’ for ‘league two’ (20ov) at group stage:-

1. Lauren Parfitt (Glamorgan-w) sr 138 scored 366 runs (from 265 balls) with three ‘fifties’ from 8 innings, and best-score 86(58) vs Gloucs-w on May 22;
2. Daisy Jeanes (Glamorgan-w) sr138 scored 267 runs (from 193 balls) with two ‘fifties’ from 8 innings, and best-score 86(53) vs Middx-w on July 03;
3. Ameile Munday (Gloucs-w) sr134 scored 199 runs (from 148 balls) with one ‘fifty’ from 8 innings, and best-score 75(40) vs Kent(Horses)-w on May 31;
4. Pippa Sproul (Middx-w) sr130 scored 110 runs (from 84 balls)  with one ‘fifty’ from 2 innings, and best-score 83*n(57) vs Derbys Falcons-w on June 07;
5. Riva Pindoria (Middx-w) sr127 scored 89 runs (from 70 balls) with one ‘fifty’ from 5 innings, and best-score 52*n(28) vs Sussex Sharks-w on July05;
6. Saskia Horley (Middx-w) sr122 scored 352 runs (from 288 balls) with three ‘fifties’ from 8 innings, and best-score 111(56) vs Gloucs-w on June 05;
7. Becca Halliday (Gloucs-w) sr119 scored 147 runs (from 123 balls) with one ‘fifty’ from 7 innings, and best-score 70(46)  vs Worcs Rapids-w on June 07;
8. Mollie Adams (Sussex Sharks-w) sr118 scored 304 runs (from 256 balls) with four ‘fifties’ from 8 innings, and best-score 80(59) vs Glamorgan-w on May 31;
9. Maddie Blinkhorn-Jones (Kent-w) sr118 scored 172 runs (from 118 balls) with two ‘fifties’ from 7 innings, and best-score 71*n(52) vs Leics Foxes-w on June 14;
10. Mabel Reid (Steelbacks-w) sr110 scored 152 runs (from 138 balls) with one ‘fifty’ from 6 innings, and best-score 53(37) vs Middx-w on May 31;

Vitality Blast (2026): Women’s top ten bowlers strike rates and economy in ‘league two’

*Understanding a bowler’s impact considers the number of wickets they took; as well as runs conceded against the number of balls played. *Bowler’s ‘strike rate’ is helpful to predict when a bowler may take a wicket. *Total number of balls delivered are divided by the total number of wickets taken, expressed as an average (percentage. *As wicket-taking ability needs to be balanced against runs conceded, the total number of runs conceded is divided by the total number of balls delivered and divided by six to give a bowler’s average number runs-per over’(conceded) ‘r-p-o:’ that’s a useful indicator when comparing bowlers economy. As above, performance beyond ‘group stage’ matches are ‘additional to,’ but ‘excluded from’ all analysis:-

B) ‘Top ten’ performers with lowest bowlers strike rates ’sr’ and ‘runs-per-over’ with best performance (from 4 overs quota) for ‘league two’ (20ov) at group stage

1. Anaya S Patel (Middx-w) sr008 took 11 wickets from 4 innings, conceding 94 runs (from 88 balls) @7.2 r-p-o with best 4/27; vs Gloucs-w on June 5;

2. Hannah Hardwick (Kent Horses-w/Hants loan) sr008 took 6 wickets from 2 innings, conceding 52 runs (from 42 balls); @6.5 r-p-o with best 4/14; vs Worcs Rapids-w on June 5;

3. Gemma Porter (Glamorgan-w) sr010 took 15 wickets from 8 innings, conceding 154 runs (from 186 balls); @4.9 r-p-o with best 4/21; vs Steelbacks-w on June 5;

4. Emma Thatcher (Leics Foxes-w) sr012 took 13 wickets from 7 innings, conceding 162 runs (from 162 balls) @6 r-p-o with best 4/18 ;vs Worcs Rapids-w on May 22;

5. Rhiannon Knowling-Davies (Falcons-w) sr013 took 13 wickets from 8  innings, conceding 171 runs (from 168 balls) @6.1 r-p-o with best 3/15; vs Steelbacks on June 14;

6. Amy Maund (Worcs Rapids-w) sr015 took 6 wickets from 6 innings, conceding 90 runs (from 114 balls); @4.7 r-p-o with best 4/7; Kent Horses-w  on June 5;

7. Clare Boycott (Worcs Rapids-w) sr015 took 8 wickets from 7 innings, conceding 125 runs (from 138 balls); @5.4 r-p-o  with best 3/23; vs. Sussex Sharks-w  on June 28;

8. Hollie Young (Kent Horses-w) sr017 took 8 wickets from 8 innings, conceding 138 runs (from 306 balls); @4.9 r-p-o with best 2/25; vs. Leics Foxes-w on June 14;

9. Amy Gordon (Kent Horses-w) sr018 took 8 wickets from 8 innings, conceding 144 runs (from 156 balls); @5.5 r-p-o with best 2/19; vs.  Sussex Sharks-w on May 25;

10. Anisha Patel (Steelbacks-w) sr019 took 8 wickets from 8 innings, conceding 154 runs (from 180 balls); @5.1 r-p-o  with best 3/24; vs. Leics Foxes-w on June 7;

Footnote: qualifying bowlers who conceded at least fifty runs