Preview: Bears Women vs Somerset Women, Metro Bank One Day Cup

Bears Women Head Coach Ali Maiden believes his side’s record-breaking win at Surrey was a statement victory that will make people “take notice” of their early season form.

The three-wicket win at a side considered one of the favourites for the Metro Bank Women’s One Day Cup – a team featuring six England internationals – propelled Bears Women to third in the group.

It sets up a top-of-the-table clash at Edgbaston tomorrow (Weds 7 May) against a Somerset Women side that have won three of their first four matches.

But Maiden says his players will go into the game high on confidence and have no need to fear anyone in the competition.

“I don’t think many people would have expected us to win at Surrey,” he said, “and certainly not in the manner in which we did.

“It was a real marker for us; people will stand up and take notice of us having done that against a strong Surrey XI.

“It’s down to our approach and style of play. At the interval I had to make sure the players weren’t too downhearted as 313 is a lot to chase. I told them to be positive and that there were runs to be had.

“We set the tone at the top of the order, were brave, played our shots and stayed on top of the run rate.

“It was a fantastic performance, to chase that many runs. We spoke after the game against The Blaze that we didn’t feel we were aggressive enough chasing their total. It’s pleasing the girls took that on board and reacted exactly the way we wanted.”

Loanee Sterre Kalis missed the Surrey trip due to County Cup commitments with her parent club Yorkshire but she returns for the visit of Somerset.

However, allrounder Chloe Brewer is still sidelined from a hamstring injury she picked up in the field in Bears Women’s last home game against The Blaze.

Maiden was pleased with the way opener Meg Austin and allrounder Bethan Ellis deputised for the pair at Beckenham and slotted into the side.

He added: “Meg came in and did brilliantly at the start, not many runs but she set the tempo right away hitting her first ball down the ground for four.

“Bethan started the first game, then missed out on selection for two games, but went away and played in a Seconds game for Notts and got a 100, so she came in with lots of confidence. She showed her class.

“As a squad of 16 all the girls will play a part at some stage; it’s important they stay focused on that and keep developing their games.

“We’ve started the season well in what’s been a tough set of fixtures. And we could easily have come away with more than the two wins we’ve had so far.

“We want to win some silverware, and to do that we need to qualify from the group.

“Our goals haven’t changed. But one thing that has changed is the players now have more belief than when we started, they’ve seen what they can do against the best teams. That’s encouraging and sets us up well for the rest of the group stage.”

Squad

Georgia Davis (c)
Meg Austin
Em Arlott
Hannah Baker
Bethan Ellis
Abbey Freeborn
Katie George
Hannah Hardwick
Sterre Kalis
Charis Pavely
Davina Perrin
Amu Surenkumar
Millie Taylor
Issy Wong
Nat Wraith

How to follow

Members and supporters can follow the match live in our Match Centre at edgbaston.com, which will include a free-to-watch stream and a live text commentary. You can also see a ball-by-ball feed and watch highlights of all the action.

Supporters can get involved by sending their match-day comments and thoughts on X via @WarwickshireCCC and we’ll publish the best ones on our live text commentary in the Match Centre.

Supporters can also watch the Live Stream and get instant push notifications of all wickets, innings and match results via the Edgbaston app, which is free to download on iOS and Android.

Match updates will also be available across the Club’s social media accounts, simply search for @WarwickshireCCC.