Picture by John Clifton/SWpix.com. Sterre Kalis en-route to a stunning 83 not out against Essex at Headingley today.
Sterre Kalis hit a stunning season’s best 83 not out as Yorkshire shocked Tier 1 opposition in Essex Eagles at Headingley this afternoon to win by 11 runs and make it through to the quarter-finals of the Vitality County T20 Cup.
The Netherlands international was in imperious touch in hitting 14 fours and one leg-side six as the White Rose totalled 188-4 from their 20 overs, including a senior best score of 43 for unbeaten Maddie Ward.
Those two shared an unbroken fifth-wicket partnership of 113 in the last 10.4 overs of the home innings.
Essex’s bowlers failed to build any pressure as Kalis and Ward were powerful and inventive, and the Eagles rarely looked like reeling in the 189 target as Yorkshire made it six wins from six matches across all competitions.
The Eagles finished on 177-8, with Beth Langston successfully defending 20 runs off the last over.
Off-spinner Claudie Cooper also excelled, claiming two wickets, including a stunning one-handed return catch. She also added another outfield catch. Each of Yorkshire’s six bowlers all struck, with Langston, Ward, Olivia Thomas, Grace Hall and Amelia Love claiming a wicket apiece.
Picture by John Clifton/SWpix.com. Yorkshire’s Sterre Kalis and Maddie Ward celebrate their match-defining century partnership.
Opener Lissy Macleod made 63 off 41 balls for the visitors added to Jo Gardner’s middle order 64 off 33. But it wasn’t enough.
Yorkshire will host either Devon or Warwickshire at Weetwood next Saturday afternoon in the last eight of a competition billed as the FA Cup of county cricket.
But, while the real FA Cup final was being played at Wembley between Manchester City and Crystal Palace, there will be many who do not see Yorkshire’s win as a shock given Yorkshire were on a five-match winning streak ahead of this and Essex had lost six out of seven.
Lauren Winfield-Hill admitted on the club’s live stream that she would have batted first after opposing captain Grace Scrivens won the toss and opted to bowl.
And you could see why, as the hosts made full use of a true pitch with good pace and a lightning outfield.
Winfield-Hill, against the county she is about to join on loan for the Vitality Blast, helped get the hosts off to a fast start with 24 before edging the seam of Eva Gray behind as she looked to late cut.
Picture by John Clifton/SWpix.com. Maddie Ward, aged 20, en-route to her senior career best score.
That left Yorkshire at 49-2 after six overs, with Erin Thomas having already fallen lbw to Esmae MacGregor.
That brought about Essex’s best period with the ball as Rebecca Duckworth was bowled by MacGregor’s seam and Ami Campbell slog-swept Gardner’s off-spin out to the deep mid-wicket boundary, leaving Yorkshire at 75-4 in the 10th over.
The game was in the balance. But not for long as Yorkshire piled the misery onto the Eagles.
While Kalis and Ward got going with some effect during the second half of the innings, Essex’s struggles with the ball were highlighted by a 24-run, 15-ball over bowled by the seamer Kelly Castle in the fourth over as Winfield-Hill and Duckworth faced seven wides and two no balls.
That left Yorkshire at 39-1 after four overs.
Later, Kalis was particularly strong through and over cover, while she also swept and reverse swept expertly on the way to a season’s best score for either Yorkshire or Warwickshire, who she has been on loan with in 50-over cricket.
Picture by John Clifton/SWpix.com. Claudie Cooper (no.11) is mobbed by her team-mates after a stunning return catch secured the wicket of Essex’s Grace Scrivens.
She hit a couple of eye-catching lofted drives for four off Sophia Smale’s left-arm spin and Abtaha Maqsood’s leg-spin, reaching her fifty in 31 balls.
Ward reverse swept four of her six boundaries against both spin and seam in a brilliant supporting role as 62 runs came off the last five overs and 37 off the last two bowled by MacGregor and Gray.
It showed how good MacGregor’s first three overs had been that she conceded 17 off the penultimate over and finished with figures of 2-25 from four overs. She was their standout bowl by some distance.
Yorkshire then made the ideal start to their defence of 189 thanks to Cooper’s remarkable return catch, one-handed going to her right after Scrivens had drilled a drive.
That left the score at 0-1 after two balls, and Cooper has now struck in her first over in six of Yorkshire’s seven matches across all competitions this season.
Further success came when Ward’s off-spin ousted Gray, caught at mid-wicket by Cooper on the sweep – 18-2 in the third over.
Picture by John Clifton/SWpix.com.
Yorkshire’s players celebrate the win over Essex.
Essex recovered to keep themselves in the hunt thanks to opener Macleod’s half-century which included nine fours and a straight six. But they just had too much to do. And when Smale was run out coming back for two at the non-striker’s end by a combination of Kalis at long-off and bowler Hall, leaving Essex 82-3 in the 11th, you felt it was Yorkshire’s game.
Macleod’s continued presence at the crease ensured you couldn’t write the Eagles off just yet, but when she slashed Love’s seam to point – 105-4 in the 14th – they had a mountain to climb.
Cooper returned to remove Maddie Blinkhorn-Jones shortly afterwards, and the visitors needed 72 off the last five overs.
Olivia Thomas’s leg-spin bowled Amara Carr and Ariana Dowse ramped Hall to short fine-leg (145-7 in the 18th over)
Gardner kept Essex in the hunt, and with 39 needed off two overs she crashed 19 off Cooper in the penultimate, including four boundaries. But Langston kept her cool at the death, removing Gardner caught at long-on.
Que sera, sera!
