Yorkshire’s women made up for some of the disappointment in missing out on last season’s Royal London one-day County Championship title to Hampshire by beating their rivals by 59 runs yesterday.
It formed part a mixed opening weekend on the road for the White Rose, last season’s Division One runners up by only three points, who had been beaten by Surrey in their opening fixture of the new campaign on Sunday.
Abbey Freeborn’s 58 could not prevent an eight-wicket defeat to Surrey at Reed’s School, with England all-rounder Bryony Smith starring for the hosts with three wickets and 37 as they chased 119 with comfort.
Then, 24 hours later on Women’s County Cricket Day, Yorkshire hit back as Lauren Winfield and co secured an impressive victory over a Hampshire side smarting from an opening day defeat to Lancashire.
At Totten and Eling CC, New Zealand overseas Leigh Kasperek top-scored with 44 from number three, while Alex MacDonald added 41 as Yorkshire posted 190 all out.
Hampshire then had no answer to spin duo, Katies Thompson and Levick, who claimed three wickets apiece in 131 all out.
Left-arm Thompson claimed 3-15 from 7.4 overs and leggie Levick 3-28 from 10, giving new coach Tharindu Perera an encouraging start to his new role. Yorkshire face Warwickshire in their next Division One fixture on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Kent sounded an ominous warning to their Division One rivals with back-to-back wins.
The seven-time champions got full service from their England stars as they first defeated Nottinghamshire by 49 runs before overpowering Warwickshire by seven wickets.
All-rounder Laura Marsh hit a half-century in the win over Notts on Sunday before claiming five wickets as Warwickshire were dismissed for 232.
Marsh picked up the key wicket of England team-mate Amy Jones (67), who shared a 107-run opening stand with Bethan Ellis (74), before Tammy Beaumont (87) and Fran Wilson (83) made light work of the target to rush Kent to victory with 9.2 overs to spare at Beckenham.
Lancashire, champions in 2017, were the only other county to secure a pair of top-flight wins as they scraped a thrilling one-run victory over newly-promoted Surrey in the closest match to mark Women’s County Cricket Day yesterday.
Surrey’s Bryony Smith, who boasts three England caps, hit 86 from 89 balls. But Lancashire’s bowlers battled back and grabbed victory from the final ball when Amy Gordon was run out attempting a second.
Kate Cross’ four-wicket haul had helped the Red Rose to a 16-run win over Hampshire in their opener on the nursery ground at the Ageas Bowl.
Newly-promoted duo Sussex and Surrey split their opening-round matches.
Sussex followed a one-wicket win over Warwickshire, in which leg-spinner Nancy Harman claimed 6-40, with a 23-run defeat to Nottinghamshire.
Surrey, having beaten Yorkshire followed it with their last-gasp defeat to Lancashire.
ENGLAND WATCH
England captain Heather Knight kick-started her Ashes summer in style as she clubbed 131 from 121 balls as Berkshire secured wins over Essex and Worcestershire in Division Two. Anya Shrubsole also impressed as the England seamer claimed two for nine before an even more miserly return of three for eight from seven overs against Worcestershire.
PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEKEND
Middlesex needed to bounce back after losing their opening game back in Division Two and 20-year-old all-rounder Sophia Dunkley stepped up with the highest score of the round. The right-hander blasted 136 from 116 balls, including 14 boundaries, before claiming a pair of wickets in a 168-run win over Worcestershire.
TWEET
???? | “It was a great win with a brilliant bowling performance from everyone. The girls showed their class with the bat too.”
lauramarsh7</a> reflects on an outstanding game on <a href="https://twitter.com/WomensCricDay?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">WomensCricDay which also saw her finish with figures of 5-36. ????????#SuperKent pic.twitter.com/56b3NaUOHT— Kent Cricket ???? (@KentCricket) May 6, 2019
