Nottinghamshire Women maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a pair of victories over Leicestershire courtesy of impressive bowling performances at Market Overton Cricket Club.
With the previous week’s double header against Lincolnshire abandoned due to rain, Notts were keen to return to winning ways against their Midlands neighbours, and they held their nerve with the ball to do so in the first game, sealing a six-run win defending 80 after Sophie Munro and Teresa Graves helped set the target.
Sonia Odedra took ten from the first over having been inserted by the hosts, but regular wickets and tight bowling proved to stem any momentum for Notts. After losing Maddie Wade and Odedra in consecutive deliveries, the visitors appeared to be struggling at 15 for two from four overs.
Steady accumulation from the blades of Michaela Kirk (8) and Teresa Graves helped double the score before Kirk was caught by Sophie Bennett off the bowling of Lucy Weston.
Graves looked to build on her start but could only watch on as wickets fell in quick succession. First, Jodie Cook saw her stumps knocked back by Nancy Harman without scoring before Hannah Hughes was trapped in front by Lucy Weston, Notts reeling at 38 for five from ten.
It got worse for the visitors when both Graves (13) and Amelia Kite were caught off the bowling of Harman in the next over, leaving the tail to propel the scoring,
Propel they did, though. Rhiannon Knowling-Davies and Sophie Munro combined for the best part of seven overs after Rebbeca Widowson had contributed six runs. The pair rotated the strike and bludgeoned the odd boundary to take Notts to a respectable score, having sat awkwardly at the halfway stage.
By the time Munro had been bowled by Grace Ballinger off the penultimate ball, she had amassed a very useful 16 from 19 balls, with Knowling-Davies unbeaten on 11 and Leicestershire requiring 81 for the victory.
It wasn’t to be wickets, so much as economical bowling that helped Nottinghamshire in their quest.
Jodie Cook took the opening wicket of Tyla Davidson, caught by Amy Gauvrit in the second over, but was assisted by miserly bowling from Odedra, Widdowson and Munro. After eight overs, the hosts had mustered 17 runs, only ten of which were off the bat.
Whilst Ballinger and Harman occupied the crease, runs were hard to come by, and by the time Kite bowled Harman for 27 from 41 deliveries, Leicestershire needed a run-a-ball 32 to win.
After 21 runs in the proceeding four overs, it was set to be a nail-biting finish with the hosts requiring 12 for the victory in the final over, but 19-year-old Munro ensured Notts took the win, conceding just five from it.
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The second win was somewhat more comprehensive, Graves and Odedra doing the damage with the bat to set 104 runs for victory, before Amy Gauvrit starred in another strong bowling display to leave the hosts 20 short.
With memories of the first, low-scoring encounter ringing clear, Notts showed intent having once again been inserted. Odedra and Yvonne Graves took boundaries from each of the first three overs before the latter was caught to leave the visitors at 18 for one.
Twin sister Teresa Graves came in, and it proved to be a defining partnership of the match. The pair kept pressure on the fielding side, finding the boundary with regularity, and by the time Odedra (27) was bowled by Harmen, Notts were neatly positioned on 59 for two at the end of the 11th.
Jodie Cook and Ella Porter fell in quick succession but Graves pressed on with Hannah Hughes for company. When Graves was stumped off the bowling of Davidson, she had contributed 40 from 38 balls.
The sting was taken from the Notts tail in the final few overs, but 11 from the 20th over helped Notts break 100 runs and set a competitive target.
As had been the case earlier in the day, the early overs set the tone for the Green and Golds who snared two wickets and conceded only 18 runs in the opening seven overs. The first came courtesy of a Ward stumping off Cook’s bowling, the second an over later, Knowling-Davies catching off the bowling of Rebecca Widdowson.
Widdowson, Knowling-Davies and Munro bowled tidily to ensure Leicestershire would face an uphill task in the latter overs. At the conclusion of the 12th over, the hosts needed 63 from 48.
Not content with a merely economical showing, Gauvrit was intent on getting in on the wicket taking act. The medium-pacer took three balls to take her first, bowling Katie Winterton for 14, before Ward completed the stumping of Aimee Colquhoun three balls later for her second.
With the game under control in the 17th over, Gauvrit took her third, uprooting the stumps of Harman for 15 from 37 balls; an indication of Notts’ tight bowling.
26 from the final three overs helped Leicestershire to 84 for five at the end of the allotted overs, but the writing had been on the wall for some time; double-header delight for Nottinghamshire.
Notts sit top of the Women’s County T20 East Midlands group, having accrued 18 points for their four wins and two abandonments thus far. Derbyshire are the visitors to Collingham Cricket Club next week for a first-against-second showdown, behind closed doors.
You can view the scorecards from both matches here.