Durham Cricket Women v Lancashire Women

Report by Thomas Ridley on behalf of the ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay

Gaby Lewis scored an excellent century as defending champions Lancashire opened their Metro Bank One-Day Cup women’s competition with a crushing 149-run win against Durham.

In an innings reduced by two overs due to rain, Lewis (131) and Eve Jones (82) excelled in a partnership worth 176 to lead Lancashire to a total of 303 for eight, despite losing a late cluster of wickets to Katherine Fraser.

Durham struggled to build any momentum during their chase, with Emma Lamb (4/29) starring with the ball, as the hosts were bowled out for 154, despite the best efforts of Emily Windsor (46).

Lancashire centurion Gaby Lewis said: "Great start for the girls, they had a great winter and we really wanted to set the tone today. Obviously it was a very successful campaign last year, but we're well aware that everyone starts on zero this year, so we wanted to get off to a flying start and we did just that today."

(On Jones partnership) "I think having a left-hand, right-hand combo makes it easier as well. We haven't batted much with each other but I think we complimented each other well and we understood the ebbs and flows of the game."

"There's a lot of games in the next couple of weeks, so I guess we can get that momentum flowing and hopefully there'll be another win on Wednesday."