Hampshire kept up their 100 per cent record in the Royal London Women’s One-Day Championship as they continued to impress in their maiden year at the top level.
This time round it was local girl Katie George who starred, taking 4-13 from just seven overs to dismiss Somerset for 64 and set up the Hampshire win.
It leaves Somerset rooted to the bottom of the table without a win to their name but Warwickshire are keeping them company, they fell 13 runs short against Yorkshire despite 68 from Amy Jones.
Yorkshire’s local rivals Lancashire also won – Emma Lamb’s 70 taking them past Nottinghamshire by five wickets – while Middlesex overcame Kent for their first win of the season.
Results
Middlesex beat Kent by 48 runs - scorecard
Lancashire beat Nottinghamshire by five wickets - scorecard
Hampshire beat Somerset by five wickets - scorecard
Yorkshire beat Warwickshire - scorecard
Bowling performance of the round
Katie George - 4-13
Anya Shrubsole - 5-15
England coach Mark Robinson will have loved this one. He’s spoken often of the need for bowlers in the international game to step up and mirror the advancements batting has made in recent years so he’ll have enjoyed seeing two seamers so in charge.
Katie George showed some real signs in India of just how impressive she could go on to become. A left-armer who’s got pace and who swings the ball is a rare commodity – so it speaks well of her progress that she’s adding wickets to her undoubted potential.
Her wickets decimated the Somerset innings and all but ended the game as a contest. For a brief moment Anya Shrubsole may have ignited hopes of an unlikely victory with a fiery spell of her own (5-15) but it wasn’t to be.
Star of the round
A number of players enjoyed weekends to remember but Lancashire’s Emma Lamb – following in the footsteps of her Red Rose colleague Kate Cross – passed a landmark in the process of taking her side to a five-wicket win.
Lamb, who was part of the England squad which toured Sri Lanka in 2016, scored 70 in her side’s second win of the season which means she now has over 2,000 runs for her county.
England watch
A heartening round for England fans with a number of contributions across the round. Jones’ 68 was bettered by Lauren Winfield (69) while there was also a half-century for Nottinghamshire’s Georgie Boyce, of the England Women’s Senior Academy.
It was, in truth, a weekend for the bowlers with George and Shrubsole just two England players who enjoyed themselves. Sophie Ecclestone was the next most impressive, taking 4/16, but Sophia Dunkley shone again, this time with the ball - her leggies snared 4-23 against Kent.
Laura Marsh (3-32) was as ever the absolute model of consistency while Katherine Brunt and Dani Hazell shared five for Yorkshire. In Division Two, Sussex, boasting Sarah Taylor, Danni Wyatt and Georgia Elwiss, beat Surrey, with Taylor making 50.
In their words
Naomi Dattani, Middlesex captain
"There were some great performances from the team including Natasha's 48 and Sophia's 4-23. It's really exciting to see the team now getting the best out of each other, and putting into practice the hard work over the winter."
Eve Jones, Lancashire captain
"It was great to bounce back after Monday’s loss to Kent. We bowled well to keep Notts to 150 and Lamby batted exceptionally on a difficult wicket, to also take her past 2,000 career runs for Lancashire."
Hollie Armitage, Yorkshire captain
"It was a great weekend for us. The opening partnership got us off to a great start with Loz scoring 69. Again, the spinners through the middle overs never seem to fail, with all the bowlers chipping in with regular wickets. It got a bit close towards the end but Brunt and Langston saw the game through for us with a fantastic bowling spell."