By defeating Central Sparks by three runs in Edgbaston, Northern Diamonds kept their perfect record in the 2023 Charlotte Edwards Cup intact.
Given that both teams had won their opening match, something had to give, and the Diamonds were able to keep their perfect record thanks in large part to an outstanding bowling performance.
When they entered the game, Diamonds were bowled out for 135 runs, much less than what appeared expected when they were cruising along at 73 for 1 in the ninth over. Leah Dobson‘s dismissal for 41 off 25 balls was the first of nine wickets to fall for 62 runs in 67 balls as Georgia Davis bowled her off-spin wonderfully for 4-0-13-3. Emily Arlott and Erin Burns both contributed nicely with two wickets each.
The total appeared to be slightly below average, but Sparks came up just short with 132 for 7, as their batters were unable to shake the restrictions that were put on them by Lizzie Scott’s and Katherine Fraser’s precise opening spells. After giving up 11 runs in her first over, Chloe Tryon recovered to capture three crucial wickets and finish with 3 for 30.
Only Eve Jones and Arlott reached 25 as tight bowling and a slow, used surface made it challenging to score runs.
Soon after choosing to bowl, Sparks suffered a significant setback when Lauren Winfield-Hall sent Arlott’s eighth pitch of the inning to extra cover.
After receiving a strong response, Dobson and Hollie Armitage raised the 50 from 37 balls. When Davis bowled Dobson with an attempted leg-side flick, their solid stand had reached 68 from 43 balls.
A major downturn was precipitated by that wicket, as four fell for 19 runs in 23 balls. Amy Jones successfully stumped Sterre Kalis for Davis, Katie George’s direct smash from midwicket wonderfully ran out Bess Heath, and Armitage skied Burns to midoff.
When Tryon lofted to deep midwicket, Davis had her third victim, and only Fraser stopped the innings from collapsing. Fraser was nine out when she top-edged a return catch to Burns, and the last couple could only make one run off five balls before Grace Hall was expertly collected by Davina Perrin at point off Arlott.
Only four fours were hit in the opening eight overs, which helped Diamonds take an early wicket when Perrin lofted Fraser to mid-off. The bowlers also put solid pressure. Before being duped by a beautiful flighted ball from Tryon and bowling off her pads, England star Amy Jones was never fluent.