With the Women’s Vitality Blast hurtling toward its halfway stage, the Bears kept pace with the pack pulling clear. Only three teams will make it to Finals Day at The Oval in just over a month’s time, and today’s 13 run win gave Warwickshire some breathing space over Hampshire, who began the day in fourth.
Bears Women owed much to a strong opening stand of 70 from Meg Austin and Davina Perrin. Both players have benefited not just from an ever-expanding professional system, but also from the England Under-19 programme, which is giving young players meaningful chances to prove their quality.
It’s no mean feat to bat against Freya Davies, who can find early movement. Austin was more than a match: she cut and drove with confidence, with pride and without prejudice, with sense and without sensibility.
Perrin, still only 18, has more experience at this level than Austin, but was happy to keep the strike rotating early on as her partner found rhythm. Once she was in her groove, Perrin began carting the Hampshire attack to all parts.
The boundaries weren’t the artificially short ones you sometimes see. One shot, placed into the pocket at cow corner along the floor, brought three runs. A small detail, but one that showed their intent and awareness. They ran everything down and weren’t just happy dealing in boundaries.
The pair added 70 for the first wicket from 48 balls, before Perrin plonked her first mistimed shot straight to Charli Knott, to give Georgia Adams the first wicket of the day. Any thought that the Bears were going to take it easy and consolidate was dashed when Sterre Kalis carried on with the assault, the Dutch international hitting the only six of the day.
Some relief for the Hampshire bowlers came in the thirteenth over when Daisy Gibb took three wickets in the over. Austin,who by this point had 51 to her name from 38 balls,again found Knott in the field from the first ball of Gibbs over and Laura Harris, who is capable of fireworks was bowled for a duck. Charis Pavely met the same fate two balls later and Hampshire were suddenly back in the game.
The experience of Nat Wraith and Kalis made sure that the Bears innings didn’t sink. They played sensibly while still scoring freely. Wraith who only joined the Bears this season gives some much needed depth to a middle-order that can sometimes feel the pressure.
In pursuit of 179 it looked like Hampshire were starting in a similar vein. Knott and Maia Bouchier both have the ability to make a run chase look easy, and with 20 on the board from the first 11 balls it looked like it might happen.
Phoebe Graham, who is on loan from Lancashire, took her first Bears wicket. Thereafter Hampshire continued to lose wickets at regular intervals. A mid-innings rebuild between Adams and Rhianna Southby got them back in things with a partnership of 46. Adams top scored with 32, but no one was able to play the explosive innings that Austin did, and there was no way back.
Millie Taylor took two wickets for 19 runs, the second a well executed stumping from Wraith to dismiss a potential match winner in Naomi Dattani, for three. That brought Millie’s sister Mary Taylor to the middle, who went on to make an 18 ball 31, but by the time she got to the middle there was too much for her to do, and Bears won comfortably by 13 runs.
The Bears stay a point behind the top two of Surrey and The Blaze, and it looks like the rest have some catching up to do if they are going to dislodge the top three and earn a coveted finals day spot.
