Kent stay in top flight with 10-wkt win
Kent maintained their top-flight status on a dramatic final day of the Royal London Women’s One Day County Championship.
The 2016 double winners lost both their titles to Lancashire in a transitional year but finished in style with a comprehensive win against Berkshire at North Maidenhead.
Alice Davidson-Richards and Laura Marsh took three wickets each as the hosts were bundled out for 79 before sealing a ten-wicket win.
Kent gain maximum points to survive in the top division as Sussex were demoted with Berkshire.
17-year-old seamer Izzy Cloke took 2/13 in a fine nine-over spell before Laura Marsh struck to reduce the bottom side to 18/3.
Excellent fielding kept the pressure on the batting side and Chelsey Rowson, 16, ran out skipper Alice MacLeod before Marsh struck again on her way to 3/17 off ten overs.
Megan Belt took a wicket and conceded just eight runs from a tidy seven-over burst before Davidson-Richards polished off the resistance.
The vice-captain ended with 3/9 off 8.1 overs including four maidens to pick up maximum bowling points.
In reply, captain Tammy Beaumont (35) and Lottie Bryan (21) guided Kent home to end the season on a high after a season that featured several debutants from the club’s prolific age group programme.
Kent will be joined in Division One next summer by Hampshire and Somerset, who won promotion.