BEARS Women’s captain Georgia Davis admitted that ‘one game does not define us’ after losing to Lancashire Thunder by seven wickets.
After a promising opening partnership of 39 between Meg Austin and Issy Wong, a good bowling performance led by Alana King saw the Thunder claw back the advantage – and a quickfire 21 from Laura Harris and a late-innings unbeaten 30 by Katie George pushed the Bears to a total of 123 for seven after being put in to bat.
Lancashire replied with a good opening stand of 45 between Eve Jones and Emma Lamb, and that was backed up by an even better stand of 60 in less than nine overs between Lamb and Tilly Kesteven for the second wicket.
Despite the loss of a couple of late wickets when the win was all but assured, the Thunder eased to victory on 124 for three with nine balls to spare.
Bears skipper Davis said: “It was a good toss to win.
“I think it was a bit tricky for us. The outfield was pretty slow when we batted and then it seemed to fly off when they were batting.
“We showed a lot of fight in the end, but we’ve taken it down to the last couple of overs. So, there’s a lot of process to take from it. It’s just how we fight back.
“Katie George fought back really well and got us up to a total that we’d take from the position we were in. But, it probably just wasn’t quite enough with the conditions improving.
“It was fantastic for Phoebe Brett to get a couple of wickets on debut. She’s been on the radar for a while, and she’s gone up to England in the under-19s at the World Cup.
“She really showed here why she should be knocking on the door quite frequently for us.
“One game doesn’t define us, does it? There are still games to go and we’re still really positive.
“We’ve still got things to use from here that we can take forward. So, we’re happy and we’ll keep fighting.”
Chasing 124 to win, Jones and Lamb made a start full of positive running, while Jones pulled seamer Hannah Hardwick for six, followed with a sweet drive for four off Issy Wong before taking consecutive fours off Georgia Davis to steer the Thunder to 38 without loss off the six-over powerplay.
It was Millie Taylor who made a much-needed breakthrough for the Bears, tempting Jones down the wicket with Nat Wraith completing a smart stumping to dismiss the Thunder opener for a run-a-ball 23.
Lamb and Tilly Kesteven maintained that momentum, Lamb reverse sweeping Taylor for four, to reach the halfway mark on 63 for one.
The pair reached their fifty partnership off just 41 balls with Lamb striking five fours in reaching her half-century off 40 balls before two wickets by debutant Phoebe Brett, who bowled both Kesteven for 25 and Ailsa Lister for one, had Lancashire 107-3 after 16 overs.
Lamb and skipper Ellie Threlkeld hit the 17 runs needed to seal victory in the 19th over.
Threlkeld had earlier won the toss and did not hesitate to put the Bears in on a slow surface, but Austin and Wong – the latter no stranger to batting at three in the Bears line-up but pushed up to open with regular opener Davina Perrin on England duty – made a good start taking 39 runs from 33 balls including Austin lofting the first six of the day off Sophie Morris.
Thunder hit back by taking three wickets for one run in the space of 13 balls. Austin hit Kate Cross to Tara Norris at mid-off for 29 off 23 balls while King made an instant impact by having Wong caught at point for 9 with her first ball. Sterre Kalis then drove Phoebe Graham to Norris at mid-off for 0.
When Wraith skied a catch off Graham to Jones at cover for eight, the Bears were in a spot of trouble on 50 for four after 10 overs.
A pair of boundaries in the 11th over and a six over extra cover in the next by Harris brought the visitors some brief relief, but the Australian’s enterprising innings of 21 ended after 13 balls when she was bowled sweeping at Sophie Morris.
George, who hit the only two boundaries scored by a Bears batter in the last five overs, made an unbeaten 30 with Taylor run out for 11 in the 19th over.
