After the previous week’s impressive victory, Cheshire crashed to a massive defeat against Surrey at Cobham.
Things went wrong from the very start as Surrey’s international opening pair of Olivia Anderson and Ebony Rainford-Brent survived early dropped chances. The pair racked up 62 in 10 overs before Rainford-Brent fell for 31 and Anderson for 38.
For a brief period, Cheshire exerted control as there was good bowling from Lorna Thomas (1-31 in 10 overs) and Jemma Bentley (0-19 in seven). But from 133-3, the match turned decisively via an amazing innings from Amanda Potgeiter.
Potgeiter reached her 50 in only 48 deliveries, then took only 26 more deliveries to add another 59 and finish 109 not out. Her innings included 15 fours and three sixes but also plenty of ones and twos via intelligent placement and running.
107 came from the final ten overs, with Potgeiter sharing in a fourth wicket stand of 125 with Holly Knight, who only contributed 19 to this stand on her way to a score of 42.
Cheshire scored fairly freely in the opening overs, but they did lose three wickets in scoring 75 in the first 17 overs. But the next six overs were truly the stuff of nightmares for Cheshire as six wickets fell for the addition of only three runs. Spinners Jess Jackson (4-14) and Sarah Clarke (3-10) did the damage as the innings ended in the 27th over, with 22 from Thomas the top score after all the Surrey batsmen had made good scores earlier.
Cheshire XI:
Lauren Griffiths (Reading, captain), Dawn Prestidge (Hawarden Park/Chester Boughton Hall), Kate Coppack (Chester Boughton Hall), Lorna Thomas (Chester Boughton Hall/Warrington), Kate Skelhorn, Jemma Bentley (both Oakmere), Sophie Connor (Moorfield/Oakmere), Natalie Lyons (Appleton), Ellie Barker, Hannah Gradwell (both Trinity), Charlotte North (Old Modernians, on loan from Yorkshire).
Scorecard:
http://cheshirecb.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/scorecard.asp?id=11218116
Cheshire 142-5, Worcestershire 144-4. Worcestershire won by six wickets
Lancashire 115-6, Cheshire 114-4. Lancashire won by one run
Cheshire 88-8, Northamptonshire 89-2. Northamptonshire won by eight wickets
Cheshire 87-7, Lancashire 88-4. Lancashire won by six wickets
Cheshire were relegated to North & Midlands Division Three of the Twenty20 Championship after failing to win any of their four matches. The tournament would always be difficult after so many of the squad made themselves unavailable, but Cheshire can still reflect on some missed opportunities, especially on the first day.
Hannah Gradwell smashed 78 and Dawn Prestidge made 39 not out as Cheshire reached 142-5 in the first game, a total which looked above par. Gradwell now holds both the Cheshire batting and bowling records in this shorter form of the game. But Worcestershire also had an innings of 78, from Thea Brookes, and with three needed off the final ball, a boundary was struck. Nathalie Long achieved the rare feat of two maidens in a T20 match, but otherwise the Cheshire attack was wayward.
Lancashire were restricted to 115-6, with Anni Rashid the pick of the bowlers with 2-15. But after a promising start from the likes of Kate Coppack (37), the innings faded away, and with three again needed off the final ball, Cheshire managed only a single. Kate Cross’s spell of 1-14 was crucial for Lancs.
Northamptonshire ensured they topped the group – although they would lose the final – with a comprehensive win over Cheshire on the second morning. Cheshire struggled to 88-8 as Patricia Hankins took 4-17, before Natalie Cowan’s 38 not out led the way to a comfortable eight wicket win. Kate Skelhorn’s superb 1-7 in four overs was in vain.
After losing all the group games, Cheshire had one last chance to redeem themselves in the relegation play-off versus Lancashire. Hayley Agnew starred with 44 not out, but no-one else reached double figures in a poor total of 87-7, Cross again shining with a 2-13 return. Kate Coppack took two wickets and there was another superb effort from Skelhorn with 1-8, but from 6-2, Lancashire got home with 36 from Jessica Scothern and 30 from Cross.
The squad for the tournament was:
Dawn Prestidge (Hawarden Park/Chester Boughton Hall, captain), Kate Coppack (Chester Boughton Hall), Hayley Agnew (Oakmere), Sophie Connor (Moorfield/Oakmere), Natalie Lyons, Nathalie Long, Anni Rashid (all Appleton), Ellie Barker, Hannah Gradwell, Sarah McCann. Katie Haszeldine (all Trinity), Hannah Marsden (Romiley & Dinting). Kate Skelhorn (Oakmere) played on second day only. Debuts for Cheshire: Rashid, Haszeldine, Marsden.
www.cheshirecb.play-cricket.com
Report by:
Martin Saxon, Press Officer, Cheshire Women’s Cricket
