By Fergus Sowrey at the Kia Oval
SURREY Women marked their first match at the Kia Oval as a professional side with an impressive 32-run victory over Hampshire.
After a cautious start, with just fifteen runs coming from the first three overs, openers Bryony Smith and Danni Wyatt-Hodge soon found their rhythm, scoring a total of 73 runs as a pair.
However, their partnership was broken midway through the eighth over when captain Smith was caught at deep mid-wicket.
The third batter in the order, Grace Harris, making her Surrey debut, had a nervy moment early on with a run-out scare at the non-striker’s end, but the Australian’s blushes were spared as Hampshire bowler Charli Knott failed to hit the wickets with the batter out of her crease.
Wyatt-Hodge went on to notch her second consecutive half-century, reaching 50 just before the halfway mark in Surrey’s innings. She eventually fell for a well-made 62 in the thirteenth over, leaving the home side strongly placed at 127-2.
Harris then took charge with an explosive stint at the crease, reaching her half-century with a towering six. She was eventually dismissed for 63, having put Surrey in a commanding position with just over three overs remaining.
Their momentum continued with Paige Scholfield in the final overs, who, with a whopping run rate of 272.22, managed 49 runs off just eighteen balls. Surrey posted a formidable 213-4, with Kira Chathli run out for a duck late in the innings.
Hampshire did their best to mount a run-chase through Ella McCaughan, who struck an impressive 81 off 50 deliveries. However, her dismissal in the seventeenth over, a sharp caught and bowled by player of the match Grace Harris, dealt a major blow to the visitors’ chase.
Any hopes of a late surge were dashed when Hampshire captain Georgia Adams was caught by Scholfield at deep mid-wicket in the same over, leaving them on 161-5, still 53 runs adrift.
Surrey’s bowlers kept the pressure on, with Harris finishing with three wickets, Kalea Moore claiming two, and Tilly Corteen-Coleman, Alexa Stonehouse, and Tash Farrant each taking one.
Hampshire’s innings closed at 181-8, sealing a memorable win for Surrey Women in their professional debut at the Oval and maintaining their unbeaten start in their second game of the T20 Vitality Blast.
