Match Reports: Kent Women vs. Surrey Women
Kent Women made huge strides towards retaining their regional Women’s County T20 title with two wins over oldest rivals Surrey at Polo Farm in Canterbury.
Match One: Kent Women (94/7) def. Surrey Women (93) by 3 wickets
Once again captaining the side, Alice Davidson-Richards won the toss and elected to field – a decision vindicated in the second over when the dangerous Alice Capsey was dismissed by the left-arm spin of Kirstie Gordon for five runs.
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Fellow opener Bryony Smith was then removed LBW by Kalea Moore in the next over, and by the end of the powerplay, the visitors were 35/3 – Surrey skipper Aylish Cranstone succumbed to the talented young Kent pairing of Sydney Gorham & bowler, Ryana MacDonald-Gay.
A steady partnership of 23 runs between Kirstie White and ‘keeper-batter Kira Chathli was then broken when Darcey Carter bowled White for 15 – Carter then struck in the first ball of her next over, seeing the end to Rhianna Southby’s innings before it really got going.
Chathli would make 12 before being run out by Kirstie Gordon, and Surrey found themselves 58/6 at the midway point of the 12th over.
Izzy Berry and Eva Gray looked to start a Surrey recovery – Berry’s 18 would prove to be the visitors’ top score of the match, before England spinner Gordon would dismiss both batters in the same over. Surrey limped to 93 all out in their final over of the innings.
Kent’s reply got off to a shaky start when opener Sarah Bryce was dismissed by Gray for only five, but Phoebe Franklin and Grace Scrivens would provide the strong base that the Horses were after in pursuit of 94 – both batters passed 20 runs apiece and built a partnership of 41 between them until the 9th over, when Franklin was caught by Gray of Danielle Gregory for 23.
The hosts lost Davidson-Richards & MacDonald-Gay in quick succession at the midway point to put Kent on 62/4 – but with 32 runs still required, the match was still very much ‘alive’.
It was Megan Sturge’s player of the match performance at six that would seal the win for Kent – her 20 from 22 balls proved invaluable after Scrivens was run out for 25 – and despite losing seven wickets, the Horses reached their target with 8 balls to spare.
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Match Two: Kent Women (176/3) def. Surrey Women (96) by 80 runs
After winning the Toss once more and this time electing to bat, Kent supporters witnessed an outstanding performance with the willow from the Horses.
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Despite Sarah Bryce departing in the third over for seven, her opening partner Phoebe Franklin equalled her highest ever batting total for Kent with a blistering 51 runs from just 40 deliveries, finding the boundary ten times.
Kent lost Grace Scrivens for 4 in the seventh over to leave the hosts 49/2, but then Alice Davidson-Richards produced her most effective performance with the bat in a Kent shirt in her now twelve-year Kent career to date – finishing the innings having smashed 67 runs in only 37 balls, including eight fours and two sixes.
After Franklin had been dismissed at the end of the 11th over, Ryana MacDonald-Gay joined Davidson-Richards, and the double-barrelled batting attack would steer Kent to their imposing total of 176/3 – 19 runs were added in the 19th over alone.
MacDonald-Gay achieved a third individual batting best score with 40 runs at a strike rate of 153.8.
Surrey’s innings with the bat went off to a steady start – openers Chloe Brewer and Madeleine Blinkhorn-Jones putting on a partnership of 23 together.
Needing to score at a quick rate, two Surrey batters were removed in the powerplay, and after six overs, the visitors were 30/2.
Kent off-spinner Megan Belt found herself on a hat trick at the end of the ninth over – both Kira Chathli and Aylish Cranstone were out in subsequent deliveries to leave Surrey floundering on 47/4.
Brewer, who had spent the previous day with Kent’s Davidson-Richards providing BBC Radio commentary of Kent Men vs. Hampshire, would fall for 32 from the bowling of Sydney Gorham and her former co-commentator taking the catch.
Two more hat-trick opportunities would present themselves to the Horses as Surrey desperately tried to keep up with the required rate.
In the 15th, the visitors were 72/7 after two wickets from Ryana MacDonald-Gay saw the end of Rhianna Southby and Amy Gordon, and in the very next over, Kirstie Gordon struck to see Izzy Berry and Danielle Gregory back in the hutch.
On 75/9, Surrey’s tail end would hold out until the final over, before Phoebe Franklin dismissed Charlotte Lambert to leave the visitors a huge 81 runs away from their target.
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Kent’s four wins in four matches this year sees them top of Group 6 of this year’s Women’s County T20 tournament, with one win away to Sussex on Bank Holiday Monday 2 May enough to secure top spot going into Group 6’s Finals Day.
Hampshire are set to host Group 6’s Finals Day on Sunday 8 May, with the group winners taking on fourth place, and group runners-up facing the third-placed side after six matches apiece, with the winners of both semi-finals contesting a Group 6 T20 Final.
The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence will once again host a full England Women’s One-Day International (WODI) match in 2022, with a Royal London WODI against India under the lights in Canterbury on Wednesday, 21 September.
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Entry to England vs. India is FREE for all valid 2022 Kent Members & Ticket Bundle holders, and this fixture will count as one day of any Six Pack or Six Pack Plus Ticket Bundle.
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Entry to all Kent Women home matches will be FREE for 2022 Members and Ticket Bundle Holders.
