Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com – 24/05/2026 – Cricket – Vitality Blast Women – Yorkshire Women v Surrey Women – Headingley Cricket Ground, Leeds, England – Yorkshire’s Erin Thomas hits out against Surrey.
For the second consecutive Blast match, Yorkshire competed strongly in patches and occasionally threatened to seize control – but weren’t able to get over the finishing line.
Teenage opener Erin Thomas produced the performance of the day with 42 from 29 balls, dominating an opening stand of 60 with captain Lauren Winfield-Hill.
But Yorkshire then crumbled, losing their last nine wickets for 50, and although three wickets for Aussie all-rounder Jess Jonassen had star-studded Surrey wobbling at 89 for six, Jemima Spence and Alice Monaghan showed the depth in the holders’ batting line-up to steer them to a four-wicket win.
Yorkshire made a flying start after Lauren Winfield-Hill won the toss and chose to bat on a glorious morning, with the captain’s young opening partner Thomas playing the lead role.
She hit four of her first 10 balls to the boundary, quite a feat against the star-studded Surrey attack, which underlined her potential.
Winfield-Hill played an intelligent supporting role and brought up the 50 stand in the sixth over by flicking a full toss to the long leg boundary – while Thomas had a couple of reprieves, as she was dropped behind the wicket on 19 and at deep mid wicket on 22, the latter an athletic effort from Kalea Moore.
But Winfield-Hill was bowled by the last ball of the sixth over from Surrey’s England seamer Ryana Macdonald-Gay – and Yorkshire never really got going again.
Thomas’s enterprising innings of 42 from 29 balls ended in the eighth over when she chipped Moore to point, and there was another hammer blow to Yorkshire in the next over when Australian star Jess Jonassen lofted Alice Davidson-Richards to long on.
Ami Campbell also perished in attacking fashion, picking out deep square leg as she pulled a short ball, and Maddie Ward’s bright start was cut short when she chipped a catch to mid-off.
Olivia Thomas was trapped lbw by the lively Macdonald-Gay, and Yorkshire’s last hope of posting a competitive total disappeared when Sterre Kalis, who had compiled 18 from 24 balls while four wickets went at the other end, was well caught by Surrey’s wicketkeeper Kira Chathli.
Yorkshire’s sticky patch continued when Rachel Slater opened the bowling for Surrey’s reply – and saw each of her first four balls disappear to the boundary.
Bryony Smith, the Surrey skipper, was clearly determined to stamp her authority on the run chase, so it was a huge relief to Yorkshire when she was bowled by Jonassen for 21 from eight balls.
Jonassen’s left-arm spin dismissed Chathli in similar fashion in her second over to leave Surrey on 43 for two.
But Surrey’s boundary blitz continued with Aussie star Laura Harris thumping her first ball for four, and the visitors appeared to be cruising at 83 for two in the eighth over.
Yorkshire then showed their spirit, collecting four wickets in the space of three overs – and suddenly the game was back in the melting pot, with Surrey 89 for six.
Olivia Thomas had Davidson-Richards snapped up by Winfield-Hill, and Paige Schofield gave Yorkshire a bonus wicket when she was run out off her first ball after a mix-up with Harris.
Jonassen returned to claim the crucial wicket of her compatriot Harris, caught by Kalis at long on, and Holly Garton then produced arguably the delivery of the day to bowl Macdonald-Gay for a duck.
But Jemima Spence and Alice Monaghan kept their cool to steer Surrey home with 27 balls to spare – although at times this game had felt much tighter than that suggests.
Magic moment:
The innings of Erin Thomas, as she unfurled an array of attacking strokes all around the wicket to delight the sun-baked Headingley crowd.
Turning point:
It came early – the dismissals of Winfield-Hill, Thomas and Jonassen in the space of three overs, after which Yorkshire were unable to capitalise on such a promising start.
Stat of the match:
Erin Thomas made an impressive start by hitting four of her first 10 balls for four, but that was eclipsed by Surrey skipper Bryony Smith who hit the first four balls of the champions’ innings to the boundary.
Erin Thomas said, “It’s really good to be back in the team, and opening again with Lauren. I think we bat well together – it would have been nice to kick on even more today but it’s a great start and hopefully there are good things to come.
“I’m trying to play a pretty aggressive game, to get the team on the front foot – all the players and the staff have really backed me to do that, to back my skill set. Some days it might not come off – it’s high risk, high reward.
“Me and Loz put a good start up, but we didn’t get enough runs in the innings. We did quite well to claw it back, and there was a real energy in our team – but Surrey had a good partnership at the end and played the best cricket.
“We’re a bit disappointed, because we had a good foundation and we didn’t kick on. They were good options, we just didn’t execute.
“We’ve been speaking about it just now, that’s two games now where we’re doing 80% well and the 20% not as well. It’s just getting those small wins. Rich’s message is we’ve got to keep improving in those areas and we’ll start winning matches.”
What’s next: Yorkshire make the long trip to Taunton to face Somerset at the Cooper Associates County Ground on Wednesday afternoon (2.30pm start)
