We’re at the sharp end of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy at present, so what better time as a Northern Diamonds player to remind yourself of glory days gone by.
In 2022, the Diamonds won this competition by beating the Southern Vipers at Lord’s in a last ball thriller. Earlier in that campaign, they dug deep in many a game and won when they perhaps were not favourites to do so.
Today, at Headingley, they rewound that clock.
With Vipers in opposition in the penultimate group game, Diamonds fell to 216-9 chasing 241. Numbers 10 and 11, Katie Levick and Rachel Slater, were at the crease. Not to worry, Slater hit 18 not out, Levick finished unbeaten on 13.
With nine needed off the last over from the impressive debutant left-arm spinner Rebecca Tyson, Slater scorched a boundary through cover and then knocked the winning two to long-on.
A home semi-final at Headingley on September 14 was secured.
Talk about digging deep!
“What a game,” said Slater, who praised half-centurions Emma Marlow and Rebecca Duckworth amongst a host of contributors.
“It’s probably one of my favourite Diamonds games.
“That’s not just because of how it ended, but Rebecca Duckworth getting a fifty. It was nice to see.
“It says a lot about the team. In 2022, when we won this trophy, we won a lot of games from difficult positions. We relied on everyone, and that’s what today showed again.
“It’s one that will stick around in my memory, and we were all saying that. It was such a good game to be a part of.”
Slater continued: “We know we bat deep, and we know how good we are all the way down.
“We felt really calm in the middle, and I’m really happy.
“It’s nice that I can take the praise for it, but I wouldn’t have been able to do that without Abi Glen’s innings (24 off 12 balls late on).
“The way Glenny batted put us in a really good position to go and win that game.
“And Lev has shown time and time again that she can bat, and I never once thought that she was going to get out.
“We had full trust in each other – whether people did or didn’t watching.”
Diamonds have now won nine from 13 games in all and are assured of top spot in the group table. They have won their last two games and face South East Stars on Saturday at Durham hoping to make it three wins from three.
That would be the ideal way to head into the semis.
Slater said: “You need momentum going into the back end of a tournament.
“We’ve still not been at our best even though we’ve been winning.
“With the ball, we’ve been a bit off it, and in the field definitely. Batting, each game we could have had 20 or 30 more runs. We’ve still got a lot to improve on, and we will.”
Marlow and Duckworth posted 52 and 51 respectively, sharing 91 for the second wicket from 5-1. Marlow’s was her second regional fifty, Duckworth’s her first.
“Ducky has been in and out of the team for a couple of years, but we all know how good she is,” said Slater. “Every one of us fully supported and backed her up to go out and do what she did today.
“You have to be able to rely on people like that.
“Marlow at the top of the order has been unreal this year.
“We were without Langers today, but Phoebe Turner has been bowling well.
“Everyone’s done their job.”
Slater also spoke about that last over, which included a boundary through cover off the fourth ball to take the target down to two off two balls.
“I knew that’s what my boundary option was,” she said.
“Even with that dot ball, there’d been twos on the ground all day, so there wasn’t any danger of panicking,” she smiled.
