MATCH REPORT: Surrey Women defeat Lancashire Thunder at The Oval
Ryana MacDonald-Gay and Phoebe Franklin shared seven wickets to lead Surrey to a 53-run victory over Lancashire Thunder at the Oval – their seventh win in eight Vitality games.
Franklin (3-19) and MacDonald-Gay (4-14) wrestled back control for the league leaders as the visitors were 118 all out chasing 172 for victory. Their heroics followed a 70-run stand between Emma Lamb, (64 from 46), and Ellie Threlkeld 32 which threatened to snatch an unlikely win for the Red Rose county.
All this drama came after Grace Harris (57 from 31) and Paige Schofield (37) shared a fifth-wicket stand of 69 to help the hosts recover from 17-3 to 171-9
For the second home game in a row, Surrey’s much-vaunted batting line-up was soon in trouble. Skipper Bryony Smith slapped the first ball for four, but was bowled by the second from Sophie Morris which skidded onto middle-stump. Sophia Dunkley inside-edged a full toss onto off-stump and confusion in running left Kira Chathli stranded.
Danni Wyatt-Hodge, involved in the mix-up, was starved of strike and became fretful before dancing down the pitch to Morris to be stumped by Threlkeld to leave Surrey 50-4.
Harris looked like she was batting on a different pitch, striking the ball powerfully down the ground before pulling a short one from Morris over deep-square for six as she marched to 50 in 28 balls.
Highlights
Scholfield struggled initially and was dropped in the deep by Eve Jones on 11. The reprieve loosened her shoulders – a huge six over mid-wicket the pick of her shots in the stand of 69.
However, England stars Kate Cross and Lamb removed both batters in quick succession and thereafter only a few late blows from Tash Farrant carried the hosts to what looked an under-par 171.
An early missed stumping chance by Chathli off Tilly Corteen-Coleman which reprieved Lamb didn’t help the cause, but the unlucky bowler struck later in the same over trapping Eve Jones lbw.
The slow left-armer returned to castle Seren Smale and when MacDonald-Gay found the edge of Fi Morris’s bat, Lancashire were 32-3 at the end of the powerplay.
Lamb though, who also survived a close call for a run out, creamed one from Harris to the cover fence to signal she remained a threat, while Farrant just failed to hold onto a flashing drive from Threlkeld.
Lamb and Threlkeld hoisted Corteen-Coleman over the ropes at mid-wicket and mid-off respectively, the former moving to 50 from 36 balls, before four boundaries in the next over from Alice Davidson-Richards suggested a momentum shift.
Franklin though struck back to have Threlkeld stumped to end a stand of 70 in a brilliant over which conceded only 1 and brilliant fielding by Franklin and MacDonald-Gay in the next over saw the dangerous Ailsa Lister run out for nought.
Lamb was then bowled by Macdonald-Gay, who in company with Franklin routed the tail.