Worcestershire Women’s Rapids’ dramatic Vitality T20 County Cup campaign came to an end with defeat to Surrey, as the Tier One side’s quality proved the difference at a sun-soaked Himley.
Having won the toss and electing to bowl first, Worcestershire’s bowlers went to work, keeping the visitors in sight within the powerplay at 39-1.
Wickets from Caitlin Baker-Smith, Meg Bishop and Lucy Harris (3-38), saw Surrey finish 171-7, demonstrating their quality in the latter stages of the innings.
Having been posed a tough task of 172 to progress to the next round, Surrey’s quality with the ball proved too much for the Rapids, who eventually fell 74 runs short.
Captain Boycott won the toss and elected to bowl first at Himley, with Caitlin Baker-Smith supporting opening bowler Jess Beach superbly, conceding just one run from her first over.
The Rapids youngster then capitalised on her impressive start by claiming the wicket of Rachel King, who chipped into the grateful hands of Beach, removing the threatening opener for a quickly-made 19.
Keen to emulate a stellar performance in the field last time out, the Rapids continued with high intensity, epitomised by a diving effort on the ropes by Ebony-Jade Tweats to save a boundary.
The visitors moved out of the powerplay at 39-1, before Meg Bishop struck in the following over, having just been introduced into the attack.
Debutant Amy Griffiths pouched a smart catch off a mistimed Smith drive, leaving Surrey at 42-2 and offering the home side ever-growing encouragement.
Chances continued to show themselves for the Rapids, as both Daisy Egerton and Bishop couldn’t quite hold on to difficult opportunities in the eight over, with the latter of the two chances having been fiercely struck back to the bowler Bishop.
The away side looked to assert some dominance; however, they were well restricted by disciplined spells from both Bishop and Boycott.
The Worcestershire pair’s commitment then came to fruition just after the halfway stage, as Boycott topped off a formidable diving stop clinically with a direct hit to run out Alice Davidson-Richards (11) off the bowling of Bishop.
With the visitors at 68-3, Ed Wilson’s side continued in determined fashion, with Lucy Harris claiming the scalp of the dangerous Spence, courtesy of a Daisy Egerton catch at short fine leg.
Despite the home side’s endeavour, Surrey continued to keep the scoreboard ticking along, as Aylish Cranstone and Paige Schofield came together for a free-scoring fifth-wicket partnership, pushing the Tier One side to 127-4 after 16 overs.
Lucy Harris collected her second and third wickets of the innings in the next over. Tweats continued to impress in the field by hanging on to a Schofield (14) hook, before Griffiths took a high top edge at third-man to remove the explosive Cranstone (34).
At 134-6, the home side hoped to continue to upset Surrey by claiming further wickets, and despite sharp reactions from wicketkeeper Liv Gough to send Phoebe Franklin packing (16), cameos from Franklin, Charlotte Lambert and Bethan Miles helped the away side to finish on 171-7.
In a new look batting line-up, Meg Bishop and Baker-Smith opened the batting for Worcestershire; however, they faced early peril as the latter lost her wicket LBW in the first over.
Fellow opener Bishop could then only hold out until the third over, as she too had to depart, having been caught at mid-wicket, as Surrey shuffled their bowling pack.
At 13-2, Tweats was joined by debutant Griffiths in search of a Rapids rebuild.
Back-to-back boundaries in the fourth over saw Tweats ease into her stay, with Griffiths claiming her first Rapids four with a big heave over mid-wicket.
The pair batted with patience, choosing the right times to go after the disciplined Surrey attack, before Griffiths eventually came unstuck taking on Dani Gregory at the end of the seventh, being caught out for 13.
Unfortunately for the home side, Gregory struck again in her next over, claiming Tweats’ wicket, having made an encouraging 23.
Now requiring just north of 10 an over, the Rapids knew they faced an uphill battle should they wish to pull off a memorable cup upset.
A Sophia Mitchell single pushed Worcestershire past the 50-run mark; however, an alert pickup from Izzy Sidhu on the very next delivery saw Mitchell run out for 1.
Gregory, who finished with figures of 3-15 from her four overs, dismissed Gough in the 11th over, before Harris followed in the 14th, attempting to pull over the leg side, leaving the Rapids at 68-7.
Boycott and Maisie Wright came together for a stubborn eighth wicket stand, batting out the remainder of Worcestershire’s innings admirably, albeit falling short of the task of needing 94 off 30 deliveries, finishing 97-7.
Boycott ended unbeaten on 23, joint top-scoring with Tweats for the Rapids, as Ed Wilson’s side’s County Cup campaign came to an end.
