Picture by Neil Duggan/Warwickshire CCC. Claudie Cooper celebrates one of her four wickets at Edgbaston today.
They say, ‘If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em’. Well, unfortunately for Yorkshire, Warwickshire all-rounder Em Arlott kind of put her own twist on that famous saying after an eye-catching all-round contribution in a Bears’ Metro Bank One-Day Cup win at Edgbaston.
For Arlott, it was more, ‘I’ll beat ‘em, then join ‘em’, with her signing for 2027 and beyond announced by Yorkshire late last month.
England’s Arlott crashed 44 off 19 balls late in Warwickshire innings as they set Yorkshire a 270-target, one quickly revised to 260 in 46 overs following rain at the mid-innings break. She then removed captain Lauren Winfield-Hill lbw in the second over, leaving the visitors with a mountain to climb.
Frustratingly, they were unable to reach the summit, bowled out for 202. Arlott also claimed the key wicket of Sterre Kalis for an innings-high 52 off 71 balls and recorded figures of 3-24 from eight overs of seam.
The Bears totalled 269-9 in 50 overs thanks mainly to opener Meg Austin’s watchful 94 off 114 balls but with Arlott adding late impetus. Claudie Cooper was excellent for her 4-55 from 10 overs of off-spin.
This – by 57 runs DLS – was Yorkshire’s seventh defeat in 11 One-Day Cup group games and was a significant blow to their knockout hopes. Warwickshire’s sixth win in 12 boosted their hopes.
Warwickshire’s innings was somewhat strange in the sense that Yorkshire went through periods where they had control but others where they lost it.
Picture by Neil Duggan/Warwickshire CCC. Bears’ all-rounder Em Arlott starred with run and wickets against the county she will join this winter.
The Bears elected to bat and were kept in check even though they managed to keep wickets in hand. They only reached 50 in the 15th over and 100 in the 28th, by which stage they’d lost two wickets.
Davina Perrin was run out following a mix-up with opening partner Austin before Katie George slog swept a Cooper full toss in her first over out to deep square-leg.
Keeping wickets in hand, however, was important for Warwickshire, and they rode their luck. Yorkshire will certainly have better days in the field.
Austin patiently accrued her runs, though she was more than happy to go over the top on the off-side.
She shared 60 for the second wicket with George (27) from 27-1 and 84 for the third with New Zealand overseas Brooke Halliday (37) from 87-2.
The Austin and Halliday stand added impetus, but Yorkshire did well to peg things back, with Cooper getting Halliday caught at mid-wicket off a miscue, Charis Pavely as the first of two stumpings for Winfield-Hill and Nat Wraith caught at mid-off.
But there was late damage done courtesy of Arlott’s cameo, giving Yorkshire a glimpse of what they can expect when she wears the white rose in 2027.
Picture by Neil Duggan/Warwickshire CCC. There was an hour’s rain to delay the start of Yorkshire’s chase at Edgbaston this afternoon.
She hit five fours and two heaved sixes and took Sarah Glenn for 19 in an over as 56 came from the final five. Glenn struck twice in the final over of the innings before the start of Yorkshire’s chase was delayed by an hour’s rain.
Arlott’s influence on this fixture continued when she trapped Winfield-Hill lbw as the White Rose skipper was undone by a full delivery.
And when Jess Jonassen sliced a drive at the left-arm pacer Alexa Stonehouse to backward point, Yorkshire were in trouble at 21-2 after seven overs.
That Arlott bowled Alice Clarke and fellow seamer Mary Taylor trapped Erin Thomas lbw not long afterwards – 51-4 after 15 overs – reaffirmed that view.
Ami Campbell tried to change it with a series of attacking shots in 35 off 20. She hit two sixes down the ground off the left-arm spin of Phoebe Brett and hoisted another over backward square-leg against Taylor.
She shared 46 for the fifth wicket with Kalis, but unfortunately they couldn’t prolong it, with Campbell slicing a skied catch to short fine-leg running around towards third off Brett’s left-arm spin – 97-5 in the 21st.
Kalis found another partner in Glenn, and they raised Yorkshire’s hopes once more. By the time Kalis reached a composed fifty off 66 balls, Yorkshire were 139-5 in the 28th over.
Picture by Neil Duggan/Warwickshire CCC. Sarah Glenn had a decent day two wickets and 30.
Unfortunately, in the next over, their 42-run stand was broken by Arlott, who returned to the attack and struck first ball back to get the Dutch international lbw with 144 on the board.
And almost the final nail in the coffin came when Brett and Pavely, also a left-arm spinner, struck with successive deliveries to get Beth Langston stumped and Glenn caught at deep cover for 30 – 176-8 in the 37th.
Brett then struck again – for a third time – to get Cooper stumped before Pavely bowled Hannah Rainey to finish things off in the 41st over.
