Hollie Armitage rescues Diamonds to clinch last-ball thriller
Northern Diamonds 140 for 8 (Armitage 82, Cooper 3-12) beat South East Stars 138 for 7 (Capsey 71, Hall 3-20) by two wickets
Captain Hollie Armitage‘s career-best knock within the Charlotte Edwards Cup rescued Northern Diamonds from a sticky begin in opposition to South East Stars as they triumphed by two wickets in a last-ball thriller.
Armitage top-scored with 82 from 59 balls on the Kia Oval, her second half-century of this 12 months’s competitors, to safe her facet’s third straight victory after shedding each openers with simply six on the board.
The Diamonds skipper’s efforts outshone these of Alice Capsey, who had smashed 71 from 48 – additionally a private greatest within the match – after being dropped twice, on 15 and 32, to carry Stars’ innings along with a show of highly effective hitting.
But their whole of 138 for 7 was not fairly sufficient, regardless of a wonderful spell of three for 12 by off-spinner Claudie Cooper and Lizzie Scott sliced the ultimate ball from Alice Davidson-Richards over level for 4 as Diamonds edged dwelling.
Put in to bat, the Stars had been quickly in hassle as they misplaced each openers within the powerplay – Chloe Tryon taking a midwicket catch to take away Sophia Dunkley off Grace Hall‘s bowling earlier than a reversal of the roles signalled Bryony Smith’s departure.
With Tash Farrant holing out to deep sq. leg, the house facet had been floundering at 33 for 3 and Diamonds turned the screw with a miserly mixture of seam and spin that didn’t yield a single boundary in six overs.
But Capsey capitalised on her first life – with Hall unable to carry on, stretching at mid-off – by smashing successive fours off Katie Levick and utilizing her ft to crack the spinner excessive for six.
Capsey was put down once more by Leah Dobson at deep midwicket and, though the fielder took her subsequent alternative, pouching a skier to take away the damaging Paige Scholfield and produce Hall a second wicket – the harm had been carried out.
The seamer completed with 3 for 20, helped by Abi Glen’s smartly-taken catch at sq. leg to dismiss Davidson-Richards, however Diamonds had been unable to do away with Capsey till Glen had her taken at long-on within the closing over.
Capsey helped to take care of Stars’ momentum at first of the guests’ reply, clinging on at mid-off to gather the prize scalp of Lauren Winfield-Hill, simply after Dobson had perished to Freya Davies’ pinpoint throw from sq. leg.
However, Armitage counter-attacked, punching Scholfield’s first ball to the quilt boundary and dominating her third-wicket stand of 49 with Sterre Kalis – finally damaged when Dani Gregory pierced the latter’s defences for 18.
Bess Heath proved a succesful foil for Armitage, dispatching Smith to the fence twice in an over to achieve 19 from 18 – and the Stars skipper was left to rue lacking the prospect to prise out her reverse quantity, shelling a mid-off catch off Cooper.
Armitage was finally stumped off a Davies large with eight required from 9 deliveries, however Scott held her nerve to dispatch Davidson-Richards over the infield and clinch victory for the guests.