Picture by John Clifton/SWPix.com. Ami Campbell has excelled against Derbyshire across both T20 and 50-over cricket this season and helped Yorkshire to another win this afternoon.
Derbyshire’s women must be sick of the sight of Yorkshire batting star Ami Campbell after she helped the county to another Vitality Blast win with more fireworks against them this afternoon.
Left-handed Campbell top-scored in Yorkshire’s 163-5 with 43 not out from 20 balls at the Central Co-op County Ground, the county going on to win their third successive game at the start of their North Group campaign.
In reply, the Falcons were bowled out for 104 inside 16 overs, never realistically threatening the target as the White Rose completed a fourth win against them this summer – this by 59 runs.
Campbell has played in three of those success, excelling in each.
Across three days in early May, Campbell scored a career best 165 not out in a 50-over win before adding 41 unbeaten in the first round of the County T20 Cup.
Here, the 43 took her tally of runs against the Falcons to 249 without dismissal.
Picture by Simon Wilkinson/SWPix.com. Rachel Slater claimed two early wickets in her first appearance of the home summer.
With the ball, Rachel Slater struck twice with the new ball in her first game of the season for the county following international duty and a fractured right wrist. She was one of four bowlers to claim two wickets apiece, with Claudie Cooper’s 2-15 from three overs of off-spin the pick of the figures.
Yorkshire are now top of the group on 15 points having claimed a bonus point in each of their successes so far. They are very much on course for a top-two finish and Finals Day in an eight-game group campaign.
The White Rose, having elected to bat, started confidently, taking 41 off the powerplay as both openers Georgie Boyce and Amelia Oliver found the boundary in muggy East Midlands conditions.
Boyce took back-to-back boundaries off the left-arm seam of Caitlin McDonald at the end of a nine-ball fifth over – down the ground and then to wide long-on.
Boyce then miscued a pull at the seam of Rhiannon Knowling-Davies out to deep mid-wicket running in towards the end of the seventh, falling for 23 – 42 for one.
Oliver was more accumulative, while Sterre Kalis started nicely thanks to two boundaries in 14, reaching 66-1 after 10 overs. She pulled one and drove the other – a full toss – down the ground.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Sterre Kalis hit 38 at the County Ground t0day having returned from her loan spell at Bears to play. She will be available next weekend as well.
Rain then delayed play for just short of 15 minutes.
This game was played on the same pitch which saw Lancashire’s men rack up a winning total of 243-7 in their Blast visit last night.
When play resumed, Kalis continued on. But Oliver was caught at mid-wicket for 23 as she tried to drag the left-arm spin of Maria Andrews – 79-2 in the 12th over.
That became 89-3 in the 14th when Maddie Ward edged her opposing captain Adrianna Darlow behind, falling for nine.
With five overs remaining, Yorkshire had 109 on the board, and they ended with a bang, particularly in the last two overs which yielded a combined total of 31 runs thanks to Campbell and Ria Fackrell, who were excellent.
Campbell hoisted Clarke over mid-wicket to add a six to half a dozen boundaries, while Fackrell’s 19 off 10 balls included one particularly eye-catching lofted straight drive off Knowling-Davies at the start of the final over.
Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWPix.com. Ria Fackrell contributed with bat and ball as Yorkshire went three from three.
In the late search for runs, Kalis was bowled for a pleasing 32 off 26 balls, while Rebecca Duckworth – like Ward earlier – also fell cheaply.
Slater (2-19 from two overs) took the new ball and struck at the end of her first and second overs as the Falcons fell to 26-2 in the third. She had Lara Shaw caught at mid-wicket by Campbell off a miscued pull and bowled Megan Pittman courtesy of obvious in-swing.
Opener Jess Couser played nicely and hit three successive boundaries and then a six over long-on off Olivia Thomas as 19 came of the seventh over, taking the score to 63-2.
But Couser was unable to add to her 42 as, in the next over, she was the second of two wickets to fall as the score slipped to 63-4.
Ella Porter was run out following a mix-up before Couser lofted Fackrell’s off-spin to long-on.
From there, the game was Yorkshire’s.
Picture by John Heald. Olivia Thomas was one of four bowlers to take two wickets apiece at Derby today.
Thomas (2-29 from four) bounced back impressively from that 19-run over by bowling Knowling-Davies on the sweep and later getting Darlow caught behind off a top-edged sweep – 90-6 in the 13th.
Cooper then bowled Andrews and had Francesca Clarke caught at cover next ball as Derbyshire fell to 100-8.
Jess Woolston then finished things off with two wickets in the 16th, Gemma Rose caught at short third and Caitlin McDonald trapped lbw playing back.
Yorkshire are next in action when they host Worcestershire at Headingley on Friday afternoon. The play twice next weekend, facing Northamptonshire at Peterborough on Sunday.
Yorkshire batter Ami Campbell said: “I clearly enjoy batting against Derbyshire, and here in particular.
“I had a job to do when I came out to the middle, to be that attacking number five. Not that the total was low, but it was probably below what we expected. Thankfully it came off for me.
“I feel like I haven’t really come off yet in the Vitality Blast, so I’m glad I’ve got some runs for the team today.
“But, yeah, I do enjoy batting against Derbyshire.
“Credit where credit’s due, though, they seem to get better and better every time we play them.
“They put us under the pump there at the start of their innings, and that’s good for the girls so we can learn. We don’t want anything to be too easy, and we want to learn from these things. They started really well there with the bat and the ball, and their bowling was a lot harder to get away.
“I didn’t really think much about that (165 here in May). I actually felt too calm today before I went into bat. I’d been struggling to get myself going all day. I get worried if I’m too calm, but it seemed to have worked for me out there.
“The bowlers are really highly critical of themselves. In T20, you know you’re going to get hit, and it’s all about staying calm and taking wickets at the right time.
“Slats was a bit annoyed at herself for her first two overs, but she took two wickets to put us in a winning position in the powerplay.
“Everyone chipped in – got a wicket or two – and I thought it was a good all-round performance from the bowlers.”
