With the T20 Blast league games finished there has been just time to squeeze in two games of 50 over Metro Bank cricket, before the Hundred Circus comes to town for August. For those of you who may have forgotten the league table looked this last Wednesday. If you want to know how it got that way you can read my take on the first eight rounds here.
The big winners in this slither of a second stage in the competition were Surrey and Durham. They both won both of their games. Surrey, minus only Sophia Dunkley, managed to sneak a win against table-toppers Hampshire, after rain interrupted their run chase of Hampshire’s 278. At the time they were 151/5 with 24 overs to go. As the rain eased they were required to score 63 off 4.5 overs, which they did with a ball to spare thanks to a measured 73* from Alice Davidson-Richards. Six days later, they beat Warwickshire more comfortably, despite 113 from 18 year old Davina Perrin, with Alice Capsey’s 79 underpinning the chase of only 240.
Surrey moved up from 5th to 4th in the table
Meanwhile Durham managed to extract both Lancashire openers, Emma Lamb and Eve Jones, before they had put together yet another hundred partnership, which opened the door to bowling out the team in red for just 168 within 40 overs. They had been chasing Durham’s 257 built around Hollie Armitage’s 111. In their second game Durham dispatched Somerset by a mere 105 runs, having posted 315/9 with Suzie Bates helping herself to 163 of them.
Durham moved up from 6th to 5th in the table, just one point behind Surrey.
The big losers in this short phase were Warwickshire, who lost their fifth and sixth games on the trot, as they first came up short chasing The Blaze’s 218/6 in a game reduced to 39 overs. Once again their top order were missing in action, but from 28/5 they did manage to get to 171 all out thanks to 50s from Abbey Freeborn and Nat Wraith. Against Surrey they were again 32/5 but recovered to post 239 thanks to Perrin’s hundred, but it was never enough.
Having been pipped by Surrey Hampshire found themselves in a table-topping clash with The Blaze, who had leapfrogged over them in the table. In trouble at 34/3 with Southby, Bouchier and Perry all gone 20 year old Freya Kemp showed her progression as a batter with a mature maiden century, which, combined with 77 from Nancy Harman, took Hampshire to an imposing 291/7. Once again Hampshire’s bowlers delivered, bowling out The Blaze in 45 overs for just 211, with 19 year old Daisy Gibb claiming 3/21.
The win took Hampshire back to the top of the table. The defeat took The Blaze from top to third.
Things did not improve for Essex who were grateful to get two points from a No Result against Somerset, who had 312 runs on the board when the rain came, but were then trounced by 138 runs by Lancashire. Essex failed to remove Emma Lamb (142) or Eve Jones (71) before they had added 162 for the first wicket. It set up Lancs’ total of 306/4. In response only 20 year old Jodi Grewcock (52) put up any great resistance as Essex were bowled out in just over 35 overs for 168.
That win kept Lancashire in second place in the table and Essex firmly rooted at the foot of the table.
The current table looks like this
Each team has four games left to play which will be played in September. There will be an anxious wait to see the 15 names announced in the England World Cup squad in early September, as those players will almost certainly take no further part in the Metro Bank One Day Cup for their counties.
With five teams within 8 points of each other it is all to play for.
Martin Davies
31/VII/25
