Katie Levick believes the Northern Diamonds can bounce back quickly from their Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy defeat to Thunder at York’s Clifton Park today.
Thunder triumphed by six wickets, their first win of the competition, as a partnership of 98 between Deandra Dottin and Naomi Dattani helped them chase down Diamonds’ 167 all out with 12.2 overs to spare.
Defending champions Diamonds have now suffered back-to-back defeats but have their chance to get back on track almost immediately when they face Central Sparks at Headingley on Saturday.
“It is always nice to get back to Headingley, we have got a lot of good success there and we are hoping to continue that,” leg-spinner Levick said.
“It is a big game for us after back-to-back defeats and we are really keen to put that to bed. Hopefully we can turn up and put in a good performance there.
“Momentum is massive in competitions like this and we haven’t been able to get that. We’ve had highs and lows, hopefully we will get back on the horse and get a win.
“We are still in a good position in the league so it is not too doom and gloom.”
Lauren Winfield-Hill top-scored with 33 for Diamonds, who lost the toss, but wickets fell at regular intervals as Dattani claimed 4-16.
Dottin made 54 for Thunder and she and Dattani were able to pace their innings and ease the visitors to their target.
Levick claimed two wickets in her first over, including the key scalp of Emma Lamb, to give Diamonds hope but she admitted that they never had enough runs on the board.
“It was tricky out there first up. Losing the toss we wanted to have a bowl as well and they were getting it to do a bit off the pitch with seamers and spinners,” she added.
“It was just about battling hard and long out there and we didn’t quite manage to do that as a batting unit. It was always going to be tough in the second half.
“They didn’t need to take the risky options and they didn’t. They batted really smart.
“Coming off the 20 over mark we didn’t manage to make those smart decisions consistently and for long periods of time. They were very disciplined so credit to them.”
