Lancashire Women v Warwickshire Women, Metro Bank One-Day Cup

Warwickshire won by four wickets

ECB Reporters Network, supported by Rothesay

Warwickshire defeated Lancashire by four wickets in a Metro Bank One-Day Cup game at Southport which reduced to 42 overs per side due to rain.

Chasing a target of 227, Charis Pavely, the leading run-scorer in the competition, made 63 – the top score in the match – before a brilliant, unbeaten seventh-wicket stand of 75 off 66 balls between Mary Taylor (42 not out) and Nat Wraith (34 not out) clinched victory with nine balls to spare as Warwickshire finished on 230-6.

Lancashire made 226-9 after being put in to bat with the bulk of the runs coming from skipper Ellie Threlkeld (39) and Maddie Penna (38) during a third-wicket partnership of 83.

Kate Cross marshalled the lower order adroitly in making 34 off 33 balls, while Taylor returned her best Warwickshire bowling figures of 3-47 and both Phoebe Brett and Georgia Davis took two wickets apiece.

Lancashire's stuttering defence of their title has now seen them lose five of their opening seven matches. They face Surrey at the Kia Oval on Saturday, the final game before the start of the Vitality Blast.

Lancashire's Kate Cross said

“I was out there (batting) towards the end of our innings and it felt like we might have been around par.

"I wasn't sure if we were kind of above or below it though. Southport is a really difficult ground to defend in general and we knew that it was a good pitch. 

“With rain around you're never too sure either, but I definitely thought we were in the game at the halfway point and then probably at drinks as well of our second innings it felt like we had a really good chance of winning the game.

“Equally I thought the rain came in and actually made the pitch a little bit better. We stuck to it as long as we could but we just weren't able to get that wicket that broke that partnership at the end to get us that door open to be able to try and win the game."