Essex v Kent
Women’s London Championship
The Cloud County Ground, Chelmsford
Friday 26 July, 11:00am
Team News
Essex: Tilly Callaghan, Jasmine Westley, Jess Bird*, Jess Olorenshaw, Bella Howarth, Scarlett Hughes+, Katherine Speed, Grace Poole, Sophia Mitchell, Sally Chapman, Hannah Davis
Kent: Ella Darlington, Isla McCulloch, Daisy Brandon, Coco Streets, Kaya Clark, Reese Nash+, Megan Belt*, Zeena Bilal, Anna Roche, Naomi Scott, Lucy Blincoe
Match Details
Umpire: Angela Tuff & Paul Richardson
Scorers: Joanna Johnson & Lin Martin
Toss: Essex won the toss and elected to bat first
Result: Essex won by 125 runs
Scorecard: View here
Match Report
Hannah Davis starred with figures of 4/37 as Essex returned to The Cloud County Ground for the first time in 2024 in style with a 125-run thrashing of rivals Kent.
Davis bowled her ten-over allocation in one spell, helping to take Kent from teetering at 34-4 when she came into the attack to comprehensively beaten at 90-9 by the time she had bowled out.
With the visitors having been chasing the Eagles’ 240 all out, set after captain Jess Bird had top-scored with 43, their eventual total of 115 all out was a country mile short.
Bird’s knock was helpfully backed up by Bella Howarth, who made a patient 39, while Katherine Speed lived up to her name with some impressive running to notch 39 in 47 balls.
Prior to Speed’s score, a partnership of 67 between Bird and Howarth had laid the groundwork for the Eagles’ eventual total, guiding them from a potentially tricky 61-3 to the calmer waters of 128-4.
Lucy Blincoe claimed four wickets for Kent, though Speed and Grace Poole reined in the Horses’ attempts to run through the hosts’ lower order with a seventh-wicket stand of 56 in 8.4 overs.
If there was any concern that the Eagles being dismissed would lead to a close chase, that notion was quickly dispelled in a magnificent 12th over from Sophia Mitchell.
Ella Darlington had been bowled by Grace Poole for the first Kent wicket, but they had progressed to 24-1 after 11, before Mitchell struck three times in five balls to leave the top order smouldering at 28-4.
The visitors never recovered from that position, as spinner Davis came into the attack three overs later, and took the first of her quartet with only her sixth ball.
Three more followed before she bowled her last over, the 33rd of the innings, a little more than an hour later, by which time Essex were one wicket away.
It followed 11 balls later, with Sally Chapman finally ending Zeena Bilal’s resistant knock of 38 from 58 via a Scarlett Hughes catch, consequently confirming a thumping Essex win.
School’s out, cricket’s in: 50-over cricket in Chelmsford this summer
White-ball action at The Cloud County Ground continues into July and August as the Metro Bank One-Day Cup gets underway.
The competition has not only recently proven itself to be wide open and highly competitive, but also a breeding ground for the next generation of elite cricketers.
With all matches set to take place during the school summer holidays, each fixture makes a perfect family day out in the heart of Chelmsford.
Wednesday 31 July, 11:00am: Essex v Leicestershire Foxes – buy here
Sunday 04 August, 11:00am: Essex v Glamorgan – buy here
Friday 09 August, 2:00pm: Essex v Surrey – buy here
Alongside the offering of men’s Metro Bank One Day Cup action, The Cloud County Ground will also host one more Women’s London Championship match during the summer holidays.
Wednesday 14 August, 11:00am: Essex Women v Sussex – buy here
