The weather effectively ruined the second weekend of fixtures in Division One of the Royal London Women's County Championship, with only two games completed. In Division Two six of the eight games survived with Staffs the big winners and Lancashire only just squeaking past Durham.
Division One
The two games that survived the weather were Essex v Surrey and Kent v Warwickshire. Surrey demolished Essex, bowling them out for just 64 in 39 overs and knocking off the runs for the loss of two wickets in under 12 overs. Veteran leg-spinner Sarah Clarke picked up 5/11 (her fifth five wicket haul for Surrey) as only Lily Reynolds (12) and Karen Baker (10) got into double figures for Essex.
Thanks to 64 from Amy Jones and some late order resistance, Warwickshire managed to post a half-decent 158 all out against Kent at the St Lawrence Ground, for whom Grace Gibbs took 4/39. But Charlotte Edwards (100*) and Tammy Beaumont (50*) knocked them off in 32 overs without loss and gave Kent their third 18 point haul of the campaign.
Two other games were started, but abandoned. On Monday Notts had put 248/5 on the board against Sussex on a great batting track at Wellbeck Colliery CC. Danni Wyatt (109) and Jenny Gunn (68*) made the most of it as they added 163 for the third Notts' wicket. In reply Sussex were going well at 57/0 after 13 overs, before the drizzle became a downpour and the game was called off.
The other game to start was the Warwickshire v Middlesex clash, where Warwickshire had struggled to 141/9 in 42 overs. Georgia Hennessy (27) and Fran Clakson (25) had top scored. Maia Bouchier had grabbed 3/24 on her Middlesex debut. But that was as far as the game got.
It is perhaps worth pointing out that abandoned games, although 5 points per team are given, cannot be replayed and are ignored for the purposes of calculating average points scored. Absolutely no point giving any team any points at all!
Division Two
Staffs were the big winners in Division Two as they managed to get both their games in and managed to win them both. On Sunday they bowled out Durham for just 50 - Amy Carnwell helped herself to 3/4 and Steph Butler 3/21. Only Catherine Chapman (23) put up much resistance for Durham. Staffs managed to lose four early wickets in reply (three to Rachel Petherick) to set the nerves jangling, before Francesca James (35*) blasted them to victory. On Monday they met Ireland and managed a three wicket win in another low-scorer. Ireland could only put 92 on the board after being 16/5 at one stage. Mary Waldron top-scored with 26. Cheryl Allcock (3/8) and Elsa-Marie Evans (3/31) did the damage with the ball. Ireland reduced Staffs to 61/7 at one stage, but number 9 Carnwell (13*) and a healthy smattering of wides saw Staffs home.
Top of the table Lancashire had a huge scare against the same Durham team on Monday. Durham were put into bat and Lancs were probably quite happy when they kept them down to 105/7 in their 50 overs. Six Lancs bowlers picked up a wicket apiece with wides (25) top scorer for Durham. But after an opening stand of 41 between Emma Lamb (18) and Laura Marshall (20) the wheels started to fall off the Lancs' reply. Lynn McDonnell (5/25) reduced Lancs to 56/7 before Bhumika Doshi (33) and number 9 Nalisha Patel (12) took them to within touching distance of the win at 101 before Patel was out. When Doshi went with the scores level the tie was on, but it was not to be as Lancs scraped home by one wicket.
Devon kept up their good start to the season with a comfortable 28 run win over last year's play-off winners Somerset. Devon would have liked more than the 155/8 they managed to put on the board, thanks in the main to 58 from Rosalie Fairbairn (formerly Rosalie Birch), but Cait O'Keefe (3/22) and Hazel Garton (3/10) kept taking wickets as Somerset slipped to 71/6. The tail wagged for Somerset, but not enough as they ended up well-short of Devon's target.
Unbeaten Wales also kept their 100% record intact after hammering Worcestershire in their only game of the weekend. Worcestershire were rolled over for 78 with Lauren Parfitt taking 5/20. Skipper Thea Brookes (36) desperately needed some support from her fellow batsmen. Gwenan Davies (35*) and Parfitt (31*) brought Wales safely home after Brookes had claimed Worcestershire's only wicket.
The final completed game saw Ireland clinch a nine wicket win over Cheshire in a game shortened to 26 overs per side. Cheshire scored 109/4 with Jennifer Dunn (45) top scorer. Clare Shillington (62) and Rebecca Rolfe (29) knocked them off with just one wicket down in just over 20 overs.
For full scorecards check out the Women's County Championship Play Cricket site
Current league tables according to me - please let me know if they are wrong!
MD
27/V/14
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If you want to get completely confused then read the ECB Rules and Regs on the women's county championship.
ReplyDelete5.2.1 states:-
Only cancelled matches (not abandoned matches) can be rearranged in the Competition for 2014. If a match started but did not fulfil the minimum number of overs to constitute a result, it will be recorded as an abandoned match and bonus points gained shall be awarded.
"AND BONUS POINTS GAINED SHALL BE AWARDED" .... um.
Section 7.7.1 reads
After all matches (excluding play-offs), Counties will be ranked in their respective Divisions using the following criteria, in the order given:
7.7.1.1.1 Average points from completed but not cancelled or abandoned matches
7.7.1.1.2 Number of points scored between 2 sides when playing each other (including abandoned matches)
7.7.1.1.3 Team with the highest net run-rate
So 7.7.1.1.2 clearly states that bonus points in an abandoned match DO count if the teams are level on average points per match at the end of the season (if the tied teams had their match abandoned).
Should tables show two sets of bonus points, one for completed matches and one for not completed matches ?
Anyone like to suggest how many bonus points were awarded in the Notts/Sussex match given section 5.2.1 clears states they can be awarded ? I certainly can't work this out from the Rules and Regs.