Emma Jones posts a thrilling 88* to power Surrey to a 72-run victory against Durham in the quarter-finals of the Vitality T20 Women’s County Cup.
Surrey got off to a destructive start to their batting innings, courtesy of Bryony Smith, who pulled England seamer Lauren Filer’s first two deliveries for four. Boundaries flowed all around the ground in the first three overs, before Durham turned to spin and stifled Surrey’s progress; Kira Chathli was bowled for 5 attempting to sweep Katie Levick. Soon after, Smith’s boundary-laden innings concluded when Maddy Villiers spun an off break through the gate, bowling the Surrey opener for 18(8).
Phoebe Franklin and Emma Jones consolidated the innings after six damaging deliveries. They rotated the strike well and made good use of the finely cut Guilford outfield through several eye-catching fours. The Three Feathers reached 56/2 at the end of the powerplay and showed no signs of slowing down. After some searing boundaries straight down the ground, Franklin had built up a head of steam, guiding Surrey to 91/2 by the halfway stage. She notched a well-organised 50 in just 33 deliveries, before being undone by the bustling pace of the returning Filer, who had her caught at short third by Mia Rogers for 58(41).
Alice Davidson Richards was next to the crease; though she had the perfect platform to launch a late order assault, it was Jones who wowed in the final stages. She was devastating on the offside, hitting Katherine Fraser to the extra cover boundary no fewer than 4 times in the 16th over, to reach 50 off 35 balls.
Jones was in full flow, pulling Sophia Turner into the neighbouring trees for six. Davidson-Richards, now hunting maximums, departed in the final over for 19(14) before Jones finished the innings in style, and cut the final two balls of the innings away for four. She finished unbeaten on 88 off just 49 balls, the standout knock in a first innings score of 194/4.
In reply, Surrey put Durham under pressure immediately and claimed the key wicket of Bess Heath through a stunning direct hit run out from Davidson-Richards. Buoyant with confidence, Macdonald-Gay’s subtle changes of pace led the hunt for wickets. She claimed the prized wicket of Villiers for 15, well caught by Chathli behind the stumps.
Durham were again reeling from a run out not long after; Armitage and Rogers ended up at the same end after attempting an ill-fated second run. Moore and Macdonald-Gay combined seamlessly to deliver the run out at the keeper’s end. 3 wickets in the powerplay left Surrey firmly in the driver’s seat.
Unable to deal with the variety in Surrey’s attack, Durham were reduced to 47/4 after Alexa Stonehouse’s left arm angle proved an issue for captain Hollie Armitage. She could only cloth an attempted pull shot to Bryony Smith, running round from wide mid-off.
Dani Gregory and Tilly Corteen-Coleman combined well through the subsequent middle overs, targeting the stumps with a tight line that left Durham precious few balls to hit. At the halfway stage, Durham were 65/4, the required rate already up to 13. Gregory was rewarded for her perseverance when another accurate over drew Abi Glen into a rash shot, leading to a comfortable stumping for the classy Chathli. Bowling figures of 1/16 off Gregory’s four overs spoke to her skilful control of line and length.
With the run rate skyrocketing, Stonehouse returned to claim another victim, bowling Emma Marlow via an inside edge. The former England U19’s knack of taking wickets in all 3 phases of play makes her an asset to any team. At 89/6, with the game’s result no longer a question, Surrey’s experienced bowling attack never let up, and their dogged consistency led to a third run out in the innings, as Fraser’s hesitation proved fatal.
Surrey’s fielding unit were cohesive throughout the match, aptly demonstrated by Priyanaz Chatterji, who covered good ground to take a diving catch low to her left, dismissing Phoebe Turner off the bowling of Corteen-Coleman. This left Durham on the cusp of defeat on 122/8.
With numbers 9 and 10 in her sights, Macdonald-Gay exhibited her full array of variations and claimed Sophia Turner’s wicket when a slower ball was flicked round the corner to Corteen-Coleman at short fine. 5 balls later, Davidson-Richards claimed a well-executed caught and bowled to dismiss Filer, and end the match, Surrey victors by 72 runs.
