MATCH REPORT: Essex Women beat Lancashire Women at Chelmsford
Grace Scrivens and Cordelia Griffith continued Essex’s resurgence with a county record Metro Bank One-Day Cup stand of 128 from 153 balls to overcome holders Lancashire and secure a third straight win in the competition.
Skipper Scrivens (74 from 83) and Griffith (61 from 90) bettered their opening partnership of 95 against Yorkshire last time out with another vital contribution to lay the foundations for a resounding victory at Chelmsford.
Lancashire needed a century partnership of their own to recover from a sluggish start, with opener Eve Jones (98 from 135) and skipper Ellie Threlkeld (51 from 69) adding 127 for the third wicket.
That enabled them to post 251 for seven, with Sophie Munro and Scrivens taking two wickets apiece, but it was not enough and the in-form Jodi Grewcock hit 58 from 57 as Essex cruised home with three overs to spare.
With heavy clouds blanketing the ground, Essex put their opponents in after winning the toss and Munro (two for 49) capitalised by bowling Alice Clarke and Seren Smale with inswingers in the powerplay.
Former Essex all-rounder Maddie Penna began with two crisp boundaries off Eva Gray, but Lancashire’s progress was stifled by tight, accurate spells from Esmae MacGregor and Sophia Smale.
Their seam-spin combination cranked up pressure on the batters before Gray returned to break the stand of 50, tempting Penna into a big heave and having her caught down the leg side.
Threlkeld used up 16 balls getting off the mark, but she and Jones gradually injected some momentum into the innings, with the opener advancing beyond 50 prior to a half-hour rain delay.
A thick edge for four brought up Threlkeld’s half-century before she pulled MacGregor straight to midwicket two balls later and Jones – whose innings had been chanceless up to then – missed out on three figures, falling into a trap at backward square leg.
Ailsa Lister’s brisk 20, including a trio of consecutive fours off Munro, hauled the Red Rose above the 250 mark and the home side made a solid start to their pursuit, ticking along at four an over.
Scrivens picked out the gaps in the field, driving both straight and square of the wicket and hoisting Grace Potts over the leg-side rope en route to her 50, arriving at just under a run a ball.
Lancashire brought back their opening bowlers early in a desperate bid to break through, but Griffith was now into her stride, cutting the spinners deftly and it was Potts who finally separated the pair by castling Scrivens with a straight one.
A bullet cover drive off Potts sped to the fence to raise Griffith’s second successive half-century and she looked on track to convert that to a ton – only to hole out off a Fi Morris full toss.
By then, Grewcock was nicely set, passing 50 for the fourth time this season and, although hers was one of two late wickets to fall, Flo Miller’s scampered single saw Essex home.
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