Charis Pavely is looking to continue her fine form with the bat as Warwickshire Women bid to bounce back in the Metro Bank One Day Cup when they take on Somerset at Edgbaston on Saturday 2 May.
Pavely produced fireworks in the Bears’ last outing, smashing a career-best unbeaten 128 off just 102 balls in a narrow three wicket defeat against The Blaze at Trent Bridge.
The left-handed batter’s innings was also part of record-breaking stand with Katie George, with their 197-run partnership the highest in women’s One Day Cup history.
Pavely has been a key part of the Bears’ batting line up that have amassed over 300 runs in three of their four matches so far this season, and despite the side’s efforts ending in defeat on Wednesday, says it was ultimately a game of fine margins.
“I’ve been after that century for a while, and Katie’s is always really easy to bat with,” she said.
“I’ll be honest, I’m quite the optimist and after our innings I really thought we were in the driving seat for 95% of that game.
“Our seamers bowled well. Their dot ball percentage was really high. I think that caused the ebb and flow in the game.
“We had a really good game, and there were a lot of positives to take forward.”
Pavely says attention now turns to Somerset, who are one of the high-fliers in the Metro Bank One Day Cup table, sitting third through four games having won their opening three fixtures.
Despite slipping to a four wicket defeat last time out against Essex, 21-year-old Pavely is expecting Somerset to provide a completely different challenge to the one they faced earlier this week.
“Their bowling attack is very different to The Blaze,” she added.
“I do think the way we are coming together as a team, starting to build this brand of cricket that we enjoy representing Warwickshire with, is something special. If we can continue to do that, we’re going to end up on the winning side more often than not.”
Tickets are available to watch Warwickshire Women against Somerset which gets under way at 10:30am at Edgbaston on Saturday 2 May.