Round 9 - The Halfway Mark

Round 9 done, which means that all the teams have now played half their games (8) and the table looks like this.

The Blaze have clearly won the first half of the season with seven wins out of their eight games. They have not always looked convincing, particularly with the bat, but they have consistently managed to get over the line. Hampshire are a comfortable second, despite losing to The Blaze this week. They have managed to pick up five wins, as have Surrey in third. Warwickshire sneaked into fourth, having won half the games they have played. But from there on down all the teams have lost more games than they have won.

The big surprise is defending champions Lancashire are propping up the table. They have won just two games and are bottom of the table. They are going to struggle to reach the top three and even qualify for the final, which they won last year.

The next block of three rounds are in June, during the T20 World Cup. The Blaze, fortunately only play two games in this block. The last block of games are in August and September.

Here is what happened this week.............

The Blaze v Hampshire
Hampshire 209 lost to The Blaze 211/7 by 3 wickets
The top of the table clash went the way of The Blaze as Hampshire contrived to lose their last five wickets for just 26 runs to be bowled out for 209 in their last over. In truth their innings never really got going after Charley Phillips (4/31) removed Southby and Norgrove in the second over. McCaughan (48) and Adams (89) rebuilt, but slowly. When McCaughan was out in the 31st over Hampshire only had 118 on the board. Frances Sweet added a useful 35*, but, under pressure to find some runs, the lower order crumbled.
The Blaze seemed to have the run chase completely under control with Beaumont (57) hitting her second half century in as many innings, but when she gave her wicket away Hampshire had a glimmer of hope. When Bryce, Prendergast and Gordon all fell in quick succession that glimmer had become a bright glow. But Emma Jones (37*) rode her luck in her swashbuckling style accompanied by Lucy Higham (15*) and they brought the Blaze home.

Durham v Somerset
Durham 292/8 beat Somerset 172ao by 120 runs
Durham posted an imposing 292 thanks to half centuries from Hollie Armitage (58), Mia Rogers (56), and Bess Heath (51), which was always going to be a challenge for the young Somerset batting line up. When they have to face the experience and guile of 34 year old leg spinner Katie Levick there really is only one outcome. Theye were thoroughly bamboozled as Levick helped herself to 6/37 with three balls left in her spell and Somerset were bowled out in the 39th over. 

Surrey v Lancashire
Lancashire 246/9 lost to Surrey 250/7 by 3 wickets
Eve Jones battled hard for her 69 off 105 balls, but her strike rate, always something of an issue, seems even more circumspect given that Lancashire's batting, without Lewis and Lamb, looks so fragile. There were some late middle order runs from Johnson, Lister and Cross, but 246 at The Oval looked light.
Surrey raced after the required runs as they seem want to do, but lost wickets in the process. They were 92/4 after 16 overs, but Kira Chatli (88*) and Maitlan Brown (62*), who returns to Australia now, calmed things down and took Surrey to within touching distance of victory with a stand of 134. Surrey got over the line with four overs to spare. 
It was Lancashire's sixth defeat in eight games.

Yorkshire v Warwickshire
Yorkshire 238ao lost to Warwickshire 239/7 by 3 wickets
Yorkshire are Jess Jonassen. They might as well rename the team. 
In this game she did as much as she could again - 110 runs and 3/32 off her 10 overs, but she can only bat at one end and she can only bowl 20% of their overs. That leaves quite a lot for the others to pick up, and once again no-one quite stepped up. 
Warwickshire, without Davina Perrin and Katie George, tried to make a game of it, with key batters Redmayne and Pavely out cheaply to a comedy run out (first ball of the reply) and stumped off JJ respectively, but their middle order buckled down and got the job done with 56 for Chloe Brewer the top score, alongside 45 from opener Amu Surenkumar, being the major contributions. 
Yorkshire will be wrapping JJ in cotton wool until their next game on 17th June

Martin Davies
18/V/2026

A blustery Round 8 round-up

As England managed to scrape past New Zealand in the 1st T20, and Alexa Stonehouse became the 21st member of the ODI squad as Issy Wong went down with a hamstring injury, Round 8 of the One Day Cup duly played out. Round 9 at the weekend will be the halfway mark, and the last before a month long break for The Blast.

Surrey v Essex
Essex 227 ao lost to Surrey 229/7 by three wickets
In a low key game Essex batted badly, but then got themselves into a winning position, only to throw it away as they allowed Surrey's ninth wicket pair of Priyanaz Chatterji (37) and Aylish Cranstone (31) to add 79 unbroken runs. 
Essex had Flo Miller (74*) to thank for getting past 200. She batted with style and confidence, which no other Essex bat could manage. In response Surrey found ways to get out and looked dead and buried at 150/7, but with the aid of some wayward bowling by Essex (33 extras including 21 wides - simply not good enough for a professional cricket team), and Scrivens and Gardner struggling to combine as the fifth bowler, Surrey strolled home with with 43 balls to spare. 
As an advert for women's professional cricket this should really have been banned by the ASA.

Lancashire v Warwickshire
Lancashire 226/9 lost to Warwickshire 230/6 by 4 wickets
In a game reduced to 42 overs both teams struggled to take control with the bat. Seven of Lancashire's top eight got into double figures, but the highest individual score was just 39. Warwickshire looked to be suffering the same fate, until Charis Pavely, released by England from the ODI squad, again took control with a typically belligerent 63 off 58 balls. But when she holed out off Tara Norris Warwickshire were 155/6 with 10 overs to go. Nat Wraith (34*) and Mary Taylor (42*) were Warwickshire's last hope, and as the * testify they were more than up for the task. As it was they finished the job at a canter with 9 balls to spare as Lancashire crumbled to their fifth defeat of the season.

Somerset v The Blaze
Somerset 222/9 lost tp The Blaze 224/4 by 6 wickets
Somerset battled to 222 on the back of a fine 97 from Aussie Anika Learoyd. She got some middle order support from Jess Hazell (32) and Alex Griffiths (43), but 222 never looked like being enough. And when Tammy Beaumont (99*) and Georgia Elwiss (72) combined to add 131 for the third wicket it was just a question of whether the table-toppers could get a bonus point, and whether Tammy could make a hundred. In making sure they did the former, Sarah Bryce deprived Beaumont of a chance to reach three figures, but it seemed to matter little to Beaumont, who was just pleased to be back in the runs.

Yorkshire v Hampshire
Hampshire 205/7 beat Yorkshire 196/7 by 16 runs (DLS)
This was another game that suffered in the rain with the Hampshire innings frequently interrupted and the game reduced in overs after each delay. Eventually Hampshire's innings came to an end after 38 overs with 50s from Ella McCaughan, newby Francesca Sweet and 41* from Amanda Jade Wellington being the main contributions. Having removed Lauren Winfield-Hill and Jess Jonassen within the space of 15 runs all Yorkshire's hopes were pinned on Sterre Kalis, but when she fell to an ugly heave at Dattani the bell was tolling for Yorkshire. They did manage some late hitting, but still fell 16 runs short as Hampshire pulled clear in second place ahead of Surrey.

Martin Davies
13/V/2026

Round 7 - The one where all teams batting second won by 5 wickets

I can't help feeling that this week has seen the real beginning of the One Day Cup. The England players have checked out, with the exception of a few fringe players. Suddenly the county stalwarts and depth in squads is coming to the fore, and the playing field has even upped a bit for the likes of Essex and Durham.  

The Blaze v Surrey
Surrey 164 ao lost to The Blaze 166/5 by 5 wickets
Table toppers The Blaze, playing their fourth game in ten days, made it four wins on the bounce as they bowled out a lacklustre Surrey side for just 164 and then romped home within 35 overs, despite their out of form top order yet again making little or no contribution.
Initially Surrey could not go more than 20 runs without losing a wicket and at 57/5 looked in danger of not reaching three figures, but Kira Chatli (28) and Priyanaz Chatterji (45) at least saw them past this ignominy.
The Blaze batted almost the same way and were 61/5 themselves at one point, but seasoned pro Georgia Elwiss (76*) accompanied by Surrey reject Emma Jones (36) showed the pitch held no demons as they kept The Blaze top of the league.

Essex v Lancashire
Lancashire 251/7 lost to Essex 252/5 by 5 wickets
If you were looking for any insight from the comms at Essex, then you were sadly deluded. On mute I watched Eve Jones plug away to 98, before hitting a legside half tracker from Grace Scrivens straight into square leg's hands. She was the mainstay of a Lancs' innings that never really had any oomph. Not getting out seemed to be more important than scoring runs. In response Essex openers Scrivens (74) and Griffith (61) laid the platform for first 25 overs going at the required rate. Jodi Grewcock then added the oomph. She hit 58 off 57 before she was out with only two runs needed. It was Essex's third win and Lancashire's fourth loss.

Hampshire v Somerset
Somerset 281/6 lost to Hampshire 282/5 by 5 wickets
Hampshire will have been pleased to get over the line, and even more pleased that Maia Bouchier, allowed to play despite being added to the England ODI squad as cover for Nat Sciver-Brunt, kept her focus long enough to score a sumptuous 143 runs. When you see her bat like this you cannot understand why she is not a shoo-in for England. The problem is that it is a rare occurrence. Hampshire will hope that with the need to perform to get into the now-selected World Cup squad out of the way, it may become a more regular one.
And given Hampshire's bowling they are going to need it. All credit to a young Somerset team on posting 281/6 and to Bex Odgers for a standout 133, but Hampshire allowed Somerset, through Odgers and Chloe Skelton (77*), to add an unbeaten 150 runs for the seventh wicket from the last 20 overs, including 69 off the last 5 overs. 
Somerset will continue to struggle from here-on in. Hampshire will hope their batters can continue to get them out of strife.

Warwickshire v Durham
Warwickshire 289/6 lost to Durham 290/5 by 5 wickets
Given Durham's recent batting woes Warwickshire probably thought that 289/6 with solid contributions from Davina Perrin (69), Charis Pavely (55) and Nat Wraith (54) was going to be plenty and at 66/3 in response with Marlow, Armitage and Wilson all gone, it looked like this game was following a similar path. But Mady Villiers (106) and Emily Windsor (85*) decided today was not going to be another groundhog day. Villiers dominated as the pair took the score to 157 before her quickfire century came to a rather ugly end. At the time Windsor was only 20 off 34 balls. It was time for her to step up, and step up she did. With solid support from Bess Heath and Grace Thompson she comfortably took Durham to their second win of the season. They remain bottom of the table on NRR due to the manor of earlier defeats, but you can't help feeling that they will add a few more wins in the weeks to come.

Martin Davies
07/V/2026

Round 6 of the One Day Cup

On a weekend that saw the England World Cup squad dressed in fatigues yomping around the countryside with the British Army, the rest of the professional cricketers simply got on with playing some cricket. 

Round 6 saw a first defeat for Hampshire; another 100 for Charis Pavely; a five wicket haul for Charley Phillips; and a Dutch vergissing. 

Durham v The Blaze
The Blaze 240/8 beat Durham 148 ao by 92 runs
Once again The Blaze's top order went AWOL and the fact they got to post a mediocre 240/8 was almost entirely down to captain Kirstie Gordon, who scored a resolute 60* coming in at 8. She is currently The Blaze's third top run scorer and tops their batting averages! Mention should also be made of 19 year old Prisha Thanawala, who scored a pleasing 47 on debut.
Durham had moved serenely on to 29 without loss in the 6th over when the wheels on their bus suddenly fell off, as they lost five wickets for 22 runs, four of them to pacer Charley Phillips (5/49). Emily Windsor and Grace Thompson dug in for 41 and 49 respectively, but they were merely delaying the inevitable, as Durham were bowled out in the 40th over for just 148

Lancashire v Hampshire
Hampshire 153 ao lost to Lancashire 157/4
Hampshire travelled to Old Trafford unbeaten, but came away having been handed a chastening defeat. Having been asked to bat first Hampshire made their usual ponderous start having lost Bouchier early. After 10 overs they had meandered to just 29/1. When both Norgrove (20 off 49) and McCaugahan (30 off 58) fell Hampshire's vulnerable middle order was exposed. They capitulated and Hampshire were bowled out for 153 in the 43rd over, despite 32 from Amanda Jade Wellington.
It was never enough, and Lancashire romped home following an opening partnership of 93 between, who else, but Emma Lamb (56) and Eve Jones (47). Brief import, Aussie Maddy Penna, helped herself to a belligerent 36* ending the game with a 6.

Warwickshire v Somerset
Warwickshire 336 ao beat Somerset 302 ao by 34 runs
Almost as many runs are being scored at Edgbaston this year as were scored at Beckenham last year. With a good wicket, and a consistently short boundary on one side, it is a matter of who can smash the most runs. It is a scenario which is suiting Charis Pavely at the moment, who likes to give the ball some serious welly. She followed up her 128 here four days ago with another 127 (off 103 balls) to allow Warwickshire to post 336, with skipper Davis stumped off the penultimate ball. Surrey loanee Alexa Stonehouse also enjoyed the short boundary with a quickfire 58* off 35 balls.
Without their England contingent, and their skipper Sophie Luff, who suffered a concussion in the field, Somerset looked up against it, but to their credit they battled well, although they never really threatened victory. Niamh Holland made a combative 65 and Chloe Skelton an encouraging late order 51. It took Somerset beyond 300, but still well short of victory.

Yorkshire v Essex
Essex 270/8 beat Yorkshire 257 ao by 13 runs
Essex looked set to post over 300 after Cordelia Griffith (69) and Grace Scrivens (36) laid the foundation with an opening stand of 97 in just under 19 overs, but, when in form Jodi Grewcock was needlessly run out, the last 10 overs produced only 70 more runs. 270 looked eminently gettable.
All the more so as Lauren Winfield-Hill put her two previous ducks behind her with an authoratative 83 off 73 balls. At 211/4 with 14 overs to go Yorkshire were in the driving seat, despite being without influential Aussie Jess Jonassen (who had returned to Australia for some R&R). They needed just 60 at just over four an over, with Sterre Kalis seemingly well in control. But Kalis ran out partners Maddie Ward and Rachel Slater, lost Langston and Cooper (to a stunning catch by Grewcock) and then proceeded to take an unnecessary single to leave number 11 Jess Woolston on strike with only 14 needed off 24 balls. Woolston was bowled by Grewcock. Yorkshire had lost and Kalis was 65*. 
This was a game Yorkshire will have targeted and they should have won. 

Martin Davies
03/V/2026