Women's One-Day Cup Report: Warwickshire Women vs Yorkshire Women
Coming into the match today (12th May) Warwickshire Women were looking for their first win in the Royal London Women’s One-Day Cup after their first two matches last weekend to Kent and Sussex ended in some close, devastating defeats.
Following their Bank Holiday matches, Warwickshire were determined to show what they were truly capable of; glimpses we had previously seen before. Today they came back firing at home, the Edgbaston Foundation Sports Ground, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough, being bowled out for 108 with just four runs needed to seal victory.
Wining the toss and choosing to bowl first, Captain Marie Kelly put Yorkshire Women into bat, showcasing the bowling strengths Liz Russell, Issy Wong and Kathryn Bryce (6-1-20-2).
Starting off strongly, Wong’s first delivery was an appeal for LBW followed closely by a wicket ball, bowling opening batsmen Lauren Winfield, 0 (2 balls) – a great start to the game in the Birmingham sunshine.
Next came Russell, four balls later, taking the wicket of Abbey Freeborn. Two balls after that, England cricketer Katherine Brunt also fell victim to Russell (6-4-2-2) for nothing; three wickets had fallen in eight balls. To seal the deal Wong came back on to bowl taking the fourth wicket on the third ball of her over, Warwickshire couldn’t have asked for a better start following their recent heartbreak.
A slow spell in wicket taking meant Yorkshire were able to add on runs before the next spurt of wickets were out with a 25-run partnership between Leigh Kasperek and Alex MacDonald pushing Yorkshire’s total to 67-7.
The final push from the White Roses saw them finish with 112 all out in 42.1 overs, with Warwickshire using their best to get them out, Wong taking the final wickets (9.1-0-25-4).
After a short break, Warwickshire looked to be in control taking on a not-out-of-reach target of 113. However, the luck for Warwickshire’s bowlers had obviously been passed on to Yorkshire as the first three wickets fell for nine runs in 3.2 overs, alternating between Beth Langston and Katherine Brunt. A wicket shortly before tea saw the dismissal of Kelly, who between herself and Thea Brookes, put on the highest scoring partnership of the day of 36-runs, pushing the Bears to 45-4.
Coming back from tea, the wickets of Jo Gardner and Brookes fell cheaply and quickly at 58-5 and 67-6 but they were still ahead of Yorkshire’s target at that point.
It was a frustrating wait for the Bears as they slowly chipped away at the target needed with wickets falling by the wayside (with Wong out first ball) leaving the final push of 33 runs to Russell and Georgia Davis with 20 overs remaining.
The nerve-wracking partnership between Davis and Russell stretched out as long as it could with tension mounting all around Portland Road, getting the target down to single figures. Good bowling and great fielding from Yorkshire’s Katie Thompson (8.1-2-22-2) and Langston (10-4-8-5) ultimately put a stop to the 28-run partnership four runs before Warwickshire could claim their first win, much to the disappointment of the Warwickshire Women sat on the sidelines.
Even though Warwickshire played to their strengths and were hunting for a win, it was not their day. Next week away at Nottingham, the Bears will be able searching to score their first well-deserved win.
