Bess Heath was left a frustrated figure after Northern Diamonds’ chances of winning a sixth successive Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy fixture were ruined by the weather in Lincolnshire.
Heath’s brilliant knock of 61 had helped Diamonds reach 188-8 at the end of the 26th over against The Blaze in a game that had been reduced to 30 overs per side after a three-hour plus delay through to 1.45pm.
But any chance the bowlers had of defending the score ended when the rain returned, and the game was abandoned at 5pm.
“It’s a bit annoying not to get a full game in, but such is life – you just have to park it and move on,” said Heath, whose quick-fire 45-ball innings contained eight fours and one six.
“It was quite tough at the start of the innings, and they bowled quite well with tight lines. So we had to get through that patch. Then the rain started coming in, so we knew we had to go at a quicker rate to get a good DLS score. Luckily, it came off for me today.”
Heath was also thankful of the support she received from team-mates Erin Burns (26) and Beth Langston (20 not out) as valuable partnerships for the fifth and sixth wickets helped Diamonds recover from 48-4.
“It was very handy having Burnsy out there,” she said. “She was a bit of a level head, and we were able to build a partnership. Then, the same thing happened with Langers.
“It was important we used a few overs to rebuild and reset because you always have more time than you think – that’s what I was trying to say to myself.”
Diamonds now go into a break in fixtures for The Hundred in second place in the table and will be looking to kick on when the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy resumes late next month.
Heath added: “We’re going into this break in a handy position – we’re second in the table, and there’s a bit of time for those girls not involved with The Hundred to work on some stuff.
“For those of us involved with The Hundred, we can get a bit more game time under our belts.
“We can reset as a team and then take off from where we’ve left it.”
