Davidson-Richards shines on return as Kent beat Notts
Alice Davidson-Richards hit her maiden one-day 50 for Kent and took four wickets as she started her captaincy career in style with a 41-run win at Nottinghamshire.
After losing the toss and being invited to bat first for a second successive day, Kent’s opening pair of Lottie Bryan and Emily Thompson shared a stand of 31 before a flurry of wickets.
Bryan, Thompson and Grace Gibbs fell in successive overs to slide to 36-3 before the stand-in skipper steadied the ship with stands of 20, 25 and 55, hitting five fours and a six before being run out.
Fresh from a pre-season trip to Abu Dhabi with the England Women, the 22-year-old Tunbridge Wells all-rounder led from the front in the absence of Kent’s trio of centrally contracted players including captain Tammy Beaumont.
Her sixth-wicket stand of 55 with 15-year-old Chelsey Rowson was key as the teenager struck five boundaries in a mature innings of 37 off 66 balls in only her second senior innings.
Kent were eventually dismissed for 185 with ten balls to spare.
In reply, Notts started solidly before Davidson-Richards struck twice in her first two overs, trapping home captain Sonia Odedra LBW before bowling Georgia Boyce.
Former England wicketkeeper Lauren Griffiths was back behind the stumps for Kent and played her part in two dismissals in as many overs.
Megan Belt grabbed the third wicket as Yvonne Graves was stumped before ADR grabbed her third victim, dismissing Notts ‘keeper Jane Smit caught behind by the Kent ‘keeper.
Phoebe Franklin, fresh from winning the national indoor student cricket title with Loughborough University, struck in successive overs.
She bowled the dangerous Jodie Dibble who top-scored with 23 off 29 balls before castling Rebecca Widdowson.
Jennifer Jackson continued her fine start to the season with a career-best spell of 3-16 in eight overs to help wrap up the tail.
The 26-year-old took a fine return catch to remove Lucy Higham before Kirstie Gordon fell to a smart catch by Rowson at point and Beth Unwin was trapped LBW.
Davidson-Richards ended the contest after a gutsy cameo from the hosts’ number 11 Hannah Hughes, who departed LBW to spark celebrations in the Kent camp.
Other results: Lancashire (18pts) bt Berkshire (3pts), Warwickshire bt Sussex, Yorkshire bt Middlesex.
The first home match of 2017 is against Sussex at The County Ground, Beckenham on Sunday 14 May before a Bank Holiday double-header v Lancashire & Yorkshire on Sunday 28 and Monday 29 May.