Division Two - Second Bank Holiday Double-Header Review
[updated Div 2 table here - http://womens-cricket.blogspot.co.uk/p/womens-county-championship-league.html]
Lancashire were the big winners in the second Bank Holiday double-header set of fixtures. They maintained their 100% record with wins over Worcestershire, and a big win over previously unbeaten Somerset. It puts them in a commanding position with chasers Ireland, Worcester and Staffordshire all losing another game over the weekend.
Lancashire beat Worcestershire by 6 wickets - Worcestershire probably regretted their decision to bat first when they were bowled out for 102 in 38 overs. Bhumika Doshi (4/17) skittled out the middle order after Worcestershire's top order had failed to fire with the exception of Clare Boycott (31) and Thea Brookes (26). Fifteen year old Emma Lamb led the Lancashire reply with a mature 54 not out as Lancashire reached their target in 28 overs with four wickets down, three of them to Jo Greaves (3/18).
Ireland beat Cheshire by 13 runs in a low-scoring affair at Hawk Green. Ireland could only muster 129 before they were bowled out by the impressive Dawn Prestidge (6/28), including a hat-trick. Ireland can thank Rebecca Rolfe (39) and Amy Kenealy (25) for at least giving their bowlers something to bowl at. Cheshire looked in good shape as the openers took the score to 31 without loss, but when Hannah Gradwell (31) fell at 49, it was left to Prestidge (42) to try and hold things together. But Melissa Scott-Hayward (5/12) ran through the lower order, including Prestige as the ninth wicket, as Cheshire slumped to 116 all out.
Wales beat Devon by 52 runs to clock up their first win of the season, based around a solid, if rather slow, opening partnership of 139 between Lauren Parfitt (52) and Joanne Westwood (55). They fell within one run of each other, from when the rest of the Welsh batting struggled to 199/8. Devon made a reasonable start and had got to 101/3 when the wheels fell off thanks to Claire Thomas (5/20 in 10 overs), who reduced them to 114/8. Lydia Harris (21*) tried to hold it together with the lower order, but they ended well short on 147 all out.
Staffs beat Durham by 115 runs. Invited to bat Staffs scored a respectable 194/3 in their 50 overs thanks to workmanlike knocks from Charlotte Whyle (52) and Stephanie Butler (46*). Durham never really got going in reply with only Laura Hockaday (17) and Becky Glen (24) reaching double figures before they were all out for 79 in the 30th over. Shanel Daley claimed 5/25 and Butler 3/23.
Lancashire beat Somerset by 6 wickets in the big clash of the weekend. Invited to bat Somerset were soon in all sorts of trouble at 14/6 with three wickets apiece for Jasmine Titmuss (3/8) and Kathryn Cross (4/20). The lower order tried their best to rescue the situation, but it was not to be as Somerset crashed to 60 all out. Lancashire made steady headway towards victory before a late clatter of wickets to Jenny Withers (3/4), but it was too little too late as Emma Lamb (37*) completed another good weekend for her and for Lancashire.
Durham beat Ireland by 19 runs. In a second low-scoring match of the weekend Ireland this time came out on the losing side. Having restricted Durham to just 118/7 in their 50 overs Ireland must have felt the game was theirs to win, but Durham, and Rachel Petherick (6/17) in particular, had other ideas. Batsmen came and went as Ireland slumped to 38/8 and only a rearguard action by Louise McCarthy (21) and Mary Waldron (20) at nine and ten got Ireland anywhere close, before they were bowled out for 99 with 10 overs to go, to give Durham their first win of the season and dent Ireland's play-off hopes.
Devon beat Staffs by 8 wickets to finally notch their first win of the season. Staffs would have been hoping to secure their place in the top half of the league against a winless Devon, but their total of 133 all out was woefully short of what they needed. Elysse Lally (38) and Shanel Daley (30) were the only two significant scorers. Rebecca Donahue finished with 4/30 for Devon, who then proceeded to knock off the required runs in 30 overs and with eight wickets to spare. Top three Amara Carr (48), Aylish Cranstone (35) and Rosalie Birch (32*) saw them home.
Cheshire v Worcestershire was abandoned after Cheshire had been bowled out for 107. Worcester never got a chance to start their reply before play was called off.
[updated Div 2 table here - http://womens-cricket.blogspot.co.uk/p/womens-county-championship-league.html]
The County Championship takes a break for the next four weeks as the Super 4s tournament takes place over the next three weekends, involving the top players in England.
MD
28/V/13
expert & informed news, views and comment on women's cricket around the world - sponsored by B3 Cricket
Nice to see a timely review of Div 2.
ReplyDeleteAnyone like to suggest why the scorecards of some Division 1 matches are still not available - even for matches played on Sunday ?
Twitter, believe or not, seems to be about the best source of timely results !
It is simply a matter of the right person getting hold of the scorebook and entering the scorecard onto the Play Cricket website. Quite often it is just the logistics that cause the delay. Its frustrating for those of us who like to know who did what, but at the end of the day the people involved are all just volunteers, who have other things which sometimes take priority. With more electronic scoring and wifi networks available at grounds I hope that more scorecards will get loaded automatically straight after the games as time goes by.
ReplyDelete