Warwickshire Bears Women produced an emphatic batting display to ease to an eight-wicket win against Middlesex and progress through to the Quarter Finals of the Vitality T20 County Cup.
The knockout competition features all three tiers of women’s cricket, with Middlesex having progressed through the opening two rounds to set up a clash with the Bears at Radlett Cricket Club.
Bears Women won the toss and gave Middlesex first use of a good batting pitch, with the hosts getting off to an encouraging start, reaching 41 in the opening five overs before losing their first wicket with Georgia Davis removing Artemis Downer for 30.
Pace bowler Amu Surenkumar trapped Scarlett Hughes LBW for 25 with the score on 70, before Chloe Brewer made the key breakthrough for the Bears, dismissing Saskia Horley, caught in the deep after she had struck 50 off 25 balls.
Two late wickets by Bethan Robinson, who ended the innings with figures of four overs two for 20, halted the hosts’ progress, with Middlesex concluding their innings on a testing 185 for five.
In reply, the Bears got themselves ahead of the rate early before in-form opener Meg Austin was caught at short third man off the bowling of Anaya Patel for 20.
That brought Nat Wraith to the crease alongside Abbey Freeborn, with the duo taking the game away from Middlesex with an 11-over 109-run partnership.
Wraith was eventually dismissed for a blistering 68 that came off 35 balls and included ten fours and two sixes, with Freeborn seeing the Bears over the line with five balls remaining, unbeaten on 79 off 61 balls.
The Quarter Final draw is yet to take place, with Northamptonshire, Hampshire Hawks, The Blaze, Essex, Lancashire, Somerset and Surrey joining the Bears in the final eight. The next round will take place in August.