How many wickets does it take to make a wobble? That was the question as Hampshire, with 9 runs needed from 27 overs, lost two in four balls to the off spin of Scotland’s Katherine Fraser. First Freya Kemp cleared her front leg, took a mighty swing of the blade… missed it completely and was bowled. As she turned to walk back, she took a moment to glare at her broken stumps, as if they were somehow to blame.
Two balls later Rhianna Southby joined her – also bowled, but in perhaps the most opposite way possible. Taking a huge stride forwards Southby planted her bat solidly in front of middle, in a classic forward defensive manoeuvre; which would have been straight out of the textbook, had the ball not been heading instead towards her off stump – clipping it, and leaving those Hampshire fans who were already starting to pack up their picnics with the feeling that perhaps this game was not quite as done and dusted as it had seemed moments before.
They need not have concerned themselves – the wobble was unwobbled by Abi Norgrove, who until then had been quietly pursuing a strategy of leaving the fireworks to other people. Norgrove struck the winning runs in the following over, driving Mady Villiers safely across the carpet of the Hampshire Bowl outfield to the invitingly small straight boundary at mid on, to give Hampshire a bonus point win which puts them third in the One Day Cup table – one of only two undefeated sides, alongside the opening rounds’ surprise package, Somerset.
Hampshire’s win was effected by the batters; but it had been set up by a career-best 5-22 from Lauren Bell, playing her first proper match since winning the WPL with RCB back in February. After a wicketless opening spell where she had looked understandably slightly rusty, including a 9-ball over to Emma Marlow which included a trio of wides, Bell came screaming back in the 29th over, bowling Phoebe Turner who found herself slashing at thin air as she was beaten for pace; and then having a possibly slightly unlucky Katherine Fraser adjudged LBW.
When Bell had Sophia Turner caught behind in her following over, it really was wobble time for Durham, who went from 109-5 to 118 all out, as Bell cleaned-up – trapping fellow England Lauren, Filer, LBW (Filer thought she’d hit it; the umpire didn’t agree) and then finally finishing things off as Katie Levick – as confirmed a Number 11 as they come – haplessly fended off a bit of a snorter and was caught on the ring. Bell’s figures for that spell of 5 wickets for just 4 runs, and her Stalinesque ruthlessness in executing the Durham tail, emphasise why she will be one of the first names on England’s team sheet this summer.
Chasing next-to-nothing, Maia Bouchier led a bit of a charge by Hampshire in the first few overs, striking Lauren Filer for 3 consecutive boundaries as England’s firey quick looked a bit more consistent, but a whole lot less dangerous, than she had a week before when she’d bagged a 5fer of her own at The Oval.
Durham used 5 different bowlers in the powerplay as they searched for the wickets that were going to be their only hope, and it was the 5th of these, Mady Villiers, who made the breakthrough; although it is perhaps more accurate to say that Ella McCaughan died by her own sword – popping a bit of catching practice up to Sophia Turner at midwicket in a dismissal so reminiscent of her opening partner, that I assumed at first it was The Bouch and that the scoreboard had got it wrong!
Bouchier went on to make 47 before seeing an admittedly terrible long hop outside off stump from Filer, but inexplicably trying to pull it, and falling to a spectacular diving grab by Turner in roughly the same position she’d caught McCaughan. It was an innings that showed exactly why Charlotte Edwards continues to rate Bouchier; but just as exactly why it won’t be a massive surprise if she plays a few more games for Hampshire this season than Bell does.
As far as the game itself went, it didn’t matter of course – Hampshire closed it out, and will be the ones celebrating this evening. Meanwhile a somewhat melancholy Durham embark upon on the long drive home, perhaps thankful only that Essex failed to win again, meaning they aren’t quite rock-bottom; but nonetheless far too close to it for comfort.