Women show their strength in depth to land T20 hat-trick

Kent secured a third Natwest Women’s T20 title with back-toback wins against Middlesex and Warwickshire at The County Ground, Beckenham, at the weekend.

With Tammy Beaumont and Laura Marsh away on international duty, Kent lost their opening two matches but bounced back to win five on the spin to claim the crown.

Fresh from international retirement, the experience of Charlotte Edwards and Lydia Greenway guided Kent to a ninth trophy in 11 years.

The arrival of New Zealand skipper Suzie Bates, the Wisden Woman Cricketer of the Year and the continuing emergence of a rich crop of homegrown stars made Kent the side to beat. Greenway, who hit back-to-back boundaries to clinch the trophy in the final over, said: “We didn’t start the season the way we would have liked but the girls showed a huge amount of character.

“The younger players like Lottie Bryan, Phoebe Franklin and Izzy Cloke have come in showed huge potential and that’s credit to all the hard work done with all the age-group coaches at Kent.

“It’s been a real team effort and we’ve showed good strength in depth when the internationals were away.

“We have a lot of home-grown players and it’s nice to have that responsibility to keep improving. We’ve played some good cricket this season but there are still things to work on.”

Kent Women celebrate their T20 win at Beckenham