Foxes Women edged out by Glamorgan Women by 2 runs

Leicestershire Foxes Women built pressure well early in the Glamorgan Women innings, before a fiery 41 in 29 deliveries from Parfitt got the visitors going. However, the Foxes fought back well, and Glamorgan were only 92/4 after sixteen overs. Gammon and Porter managed to drag the visitors to a competitive 122/5 in the last four overs.

With bat in hand, Leicestershire made a conservative start as they didn’t lose a wicket in the powerplay but scored only 29 runs. The slow scoring rate meant that further down the line, the hosts needed over ten runs per over from the final five overs, but they still had seven wickets in hand. With three wickets falling in the seventeenth over and one in the next, it seemed like Leicestershire were out of contention for victory. However, Grayson fired three boundaries in the final over, meaning that she needed to hit a four to tie the game with the last delivery. She could only manage to score two and so Glamorgan secured the victory by two runs.

Early morning cloud covered Uptonsteel Grace Road as Foxes Women skipper Brooker won the toss and elected to field first.

Leicestershire struck early thanks to Thatcher who removed Jeanes for a duck, four balls into the innings. In the fourth over, Sturge advanced down the pitch to Singh but could only find Grayson at mid-wicket, falling for 14.

Parfitt kickstarted the Glamorgan innings by powering 41 in 29 deliveries, before picking out Brooker at mid-on, departing to Chissell in the eleventh over. Two overs later, Chissell took her second by bowling Ellis for 16.

Porter and Gammon batted a steady tempo, taking the visitors to 92/4 with four overs remaining.

In the nineteenth over, Porter was caught by Singh for 15, attempting to push Glamorgan towards a defendable total. Gammon ended the innings 27 not out as the visitors set a target of 123 to win for the Foxes.

In reply, Leicestershire made a steady start, ending the powerplay 29/0, but in the eighth over Teekasingh was bowled by Reid for 10. In her following over, Reid dismissed Davies for 5 as she hauled a sweep only as far as Jeanes at deep square leg.

At the end of the fifteenth over, Brooker was run out by Sturge for 16, coming back to take a second run – Leicestershire requiring 51 runs to win in the final five overs.

Home chances took a hit in the seventeenth over, as Chissell was run out by Ellis for 2, attempting a quick single, before Watson was stumped for 46 on the following delivery, despite a slight misfield by wicketkeeper Gammon, giving Cobb her only wicket of the match. Later in the same over, Weston was run out thanks to a brilliant direct hit from Sturge for 1.

In the following over, Williamson ran past a Porter delivery, falling stumped for 1.

However, Grayson gave the Foxes a glimmer of hope, hitting a six and two fours in the final over to take the host five runs away from victory heading into the final delivery. Her efforts were in vain as she could only manage to run two and Glamorgan edged a thrilling finale by two runs.