Cheshire Women 132, Middlesex Women 133-7. Middlesex won by three wickets.
The Route Organisation-sponsored Cheshire ended their season once again just falling just short of a competitive total when batting first.
Middlesex’s Beth Morgan led her side’s successful run chase almost single-handedly here. England T20 World Cup hero Morgan has been dismissed cheaply several times by Cheshire recently, but here her class shone through with an unbeaten 68 from 92 deliveries. Only one of her team-mates reached double figures.
Cheshire made Middlesex fight for every run, and their efforts in the field were notable for Dawn Prestidge’s two early breakthroughs, a spectacular catch and spectacular run out from Laura Newton, and another miserly spell from Lorna Thomas. Thomas conceded only 16 in her ten over spell, and took one wicket to take her final Championship tally to 19, again staking her strong claims to be the best bowler outside the top division.
But Morgan reigned supreme, and once her score had reached 30 she milked the Cheshire attack, scoring off almost every ball.
As so often this season, Cheshire’s top scorer was a tail-ender, with Thomas making 26 as none of the top order passed 20. Jenny Halstead, Binaisha Shah and Raveena Lakhtaria all took three wickets for Middlesex.
Cheshire finish with a record of four wins and six defeats and will be back to tackle division two again next year. This season has seen some disappointing performances, but also some spectacular victories, and with a squad average age of 22 it must be recognised that Cheshire are still a work in progress.
Full scorecards on all Cheshire matches at
http://cheshirecb.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/results.asp
