Two more wins for Women’s XI despite scare
Cricket Shropshire’s Women’s XI survived an early scare to claim two more wins when they hosted Lincolnshire in their latest Vitality Blast League 3 Division 2B fixtures at Newport CC.
In the first game of the day, skipper Lara Jones won the toss and asked the visitors to bat first and the Shropshire attack restricted them to 114-9 from their 20 overs.
Harriet Shuker led the way with 3-11 from three overs while Jones, Isabelle Crann and Millie Parry claimed two wickets apiece.
The Shropshire reply ran into early trouble when they lost two wickets in the first over and then found themselves 3-11 in the third.
But Libby Thomas (47 not out from 42 balls) and Libby Snowdon (52 not out off 40 balls) ensured there were no more scares as they saw their side to a three wicket win in the 16th over.
The second game saw Lincolnshire win the toss and elect to bat first.
Shuker again claimed three wickets while Crann finished her four overs with impressive figures of 3-9 and skipper Jones chipped in with 2-17 as the visitors were restricted to 120-9.
Thomas again anchored the reply with an unbeaten 47 while Olivia Smith hit 43 not out from 40 balls as Shropshire eased to victory for the loss just one wicket with 13 balls to spare.
The two victories mean Shropshire sit clear at the top of the table with two games to play when they travel to Colwall to take on Herefordshire on June 14 with a place in the divisional final in sight for the second year on the bounce.
Coach Naomi Payne said: “It was another really clinical and professional display from the girls over the weekend, helping put us into a very dominant position in the table.
“Even when we were under the pump early in the first game, the composure showed by the two Libby’s was fantastic. The rest fell into place nicely, with plenty of class, individual performances.
“The ability and talent we have in this squad is brilliant, but the togetherness of this group is something special. You can see there’s real desire and they’ve all got their sights set on another appearance in a T20 Final.
“I have no doubt the team can rally together a couple more times, deliver quality cricket on the field and, hopefully, we can get two more wins in the bag and head down South for another big contest.
“They thoroughly deserve it!”