Women’s cricket The game was there to be won, says disappointed skipper Luff
S❝ I think that was the difference between the teams. They had someone who went on to make a big score and we weren’t able to do that
OUTH Africa all-rounder Nadine de Klerk struck a magnificent unbeaten 106 as The Blaze fought back to beat Western Storm by four wickets in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy at Trent Bridge.
Chasing 276 for victory, the home side looked to be heading for a fifth defeat in six matches when they slipped to 137-6 following Natasha Wraith’s impressive career-best 73 in the Storm innings.
But 24-year-old De Klerk turned things round in a superb unbroken 139-run partnership with 21-yearold wicketkeeper Ella Claridge (64 not out), whose half-century was her first in women’s regional cricket, as The Blaze won with 12 balls to spare.
Storm captain Sophie Luff said: “It is very disappointing. We probably didn’t get enough runs on what was a good wicket with a short boundary on one side.
“When we had them six down we felt the game was there to be won but Nadine batted really well and her hundred was very well deserved. I think that was the difference between the teams. They had someone who went on to make a big score and we weren’t able to do that.
“The senior players needed to put their hands up. Myself and Fran Wilson, the most senior players in the team, were both guilty of getting to 30 and getting out when we needed to kick on and make bigger contributions.
“Having said that, when they were 130-6 we needed to be closing the game out better with the ball. We let it get away from us a little bit, we weren’t at our best and tidiest in the field and that’s something we need to look at leading into the Charlotte Edwards Cup.
“Nat Wraith did really well. She has been playing really well for us this season, contributing in pretty much every game. The tempo she bats with in that middle order is really brilliant, she is choosing the right options at the right times, which is good to see in a young player.
“We’re nearer the bottom than the top in this competition at the moment, but I don’t think we are that far away. Some of those games could have been wins on our part and we could have been right at the top. It comes down to small margins and we are going to have to dust ourselves down and hope the change of format brings us a change of luck.”
Earlier, wicketkeeper-batter Wraith had shared a fourth-wicket partnership of 93 with Luff (37), who had earlier put on 66 for the second wicket with Fran Wilson (34) before useful lower-order runs from Chloe Skelton (29 not out) helped Storm made light of the absence of England duo Heather Knight and Danielle Gibson to total to 275 in 48.1 overs. Blaze captain Kirstie Gordon took 4-40.
England opener Tammy Beaumont, not selected for the forthcoming T20 series against Pakistan Women, hit 41, sharing an opening partnership of 52 with Teresa Graves (24), but The Blaze looked likely to suffer again in the absence of England’s Nat Sciver-Brunt and Scotland internationals Kathryn and Sarah Bryce until De Klerk and Claridge’s heroics won the day.
The Blaze had won the toss and Sophie Munro removed Alex Griffiths with the second ball of the match courtesy of an edge to solitary slip Beaumont, but Gordon had to wait until the 14th over to see her decision to bowl first rewarded again, bringing about the breakthrough with her own leftarm spin as Wilson’s sweep flew off a top-edge to short fine leg.
Gordon followed up by bowling Smale to leave Storm 70-3, after which the Blaze skipper looked to apply the squeeze with spin at both ends. But Wraith and Luff countered by going on the offensive, adding another 50 in just 40 deliveries, Wraith hitting a maximum down the ground off Gordon before knocking leg-spinner Josie Groves out of the attack with three fours in four balls.
The fourth-wicket pair plundered more runs against the offspin of Lucy Higham before Groves returned to have Luff caught at long-off.