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The 16-year-old is one of the most highly-rated young players in Australia. She showed why on the WBBL’s opening night

Andrew McGlashan19-Oct-2019The past, present and most definitely the future of the Australian cricket team was on display at North Sydney Oval on Friday.Alex Blackwell, who was capped 251 times by her country, padded up for another WBBL season and struck 56 off 38 balls. Ellyse Perry and Alyssa Healy, two stars of the current world-beating Australia side, did what they often do and sent the ball to all parts.And then there was a 16-year-old on debut who will, probably sooner rather than later, be part of that Australia team.Phoebe Litchfield only lasted 22 balls, but played out in front of a worldwide TV audience the innings went to reinforce why she has been talked about as one of the most talented players of the next generation.Earlier this year, a video posted on Twitter by New South Wales of Litchfield batting the nets went around the world. “I sort of didn’t know at the time,” Litchfield told ESPNcricinfo. “I thought they were just videoing our whole squad and then my friend was like ‘nice video’ and I was confused at the start, but it’s got a lot of views which puts on a bit of pressure on.”There was only a few days to get her head around a WBBL contract. “The nerves sort of climbed from there to the first ball,” she said.Pressure, and expectation, it appears are things Litchfield is able to take in her stride. On Friday, against a star-studded Sydney Sixers side, and walking in with her team 3 for 25, key internationals Rachel Priest and Rachael Haynes dismissed, she showed her range of strokes with a flick over midwicket followed by a deft scoop over fine leg. “I guess I go where there’s no fielders. It was on, so I went for it,” was her matter-of-fact response.It was an attempt at a repeat that saw her go lbw, but even the dismissal was significant as the wicket-taker was fellow 16-year-old Hayley Silver-Holmes.”To see such class from a 16-year-old is really impressive,” Alyssa Healy said. “That’s what’s so great about this competition, these young girls are getting opportunities.”Litchfield has already had plenty of representative honours, selected for a Governer’s General XI, touring with Australia U-19s, and a few weeks ago playing for a Cricket Australia XI against the Sri Lankans. Her WBBL debut, on a landmark night for the competition, was another milestone.”I aspired to be in the Big Bash and now I’m playing in it, so it’s a great experienced and I’m just happy to be here,” she said. “It was crazy and felt like a dream. It was a great experience, having [Alex Blackwell] out there made me a bit more calm which was nice. It’s a very good spot to watch, at the other end, Alex go at it.”There is both excitement and a degree of caution within the Thunder camp – not wanting to overwhelm Litchfield early in her career – but also an acknowledgement that her maturity stands her in good stead.There are more shots in the locker, too, with Litchfield having a 360-degree game with parts of hockey, the other sport she plays at representative level, playing a part.”I have to play hockey right-handed so it took me a while to get good at that. I didn’t do a reverse sweep today, but the reverse comes out and that’s sort of a hockey shot,” she said.She is part of the Australia Under-16 hockey side and at the moment is pleased to be able to split her focus between two sports. She knows a decision looms at some point in the future but it is not something that has been discussed yet and the Thunder coach Trevor Griffin sees it as strength that Litchfield has another focus in her life to retain a balance.”I like having the off-season to get my head off cricket, it’s a nice fitness booster and I think if played cricket all year I’d probably get sick of it, so it’s nice to switch over,” Litchfield said. “Most likely [I will have to choose] because the season is getting bigger and bigger and there’s lots of competitions around the world, but I’m not thinking about that soon. If cricket asks me to stop, I’ll stop, but for now I’ll keep playing both.”

No date set for his return; uncapped legspinner Shaun von Berg could be in the mix for a debut in the second Test starting Friday

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jul-2018Tabraiz Shamsi, the left-arm wristspinner, has left South Africa’s tour of Sri Lanka for family reasons. No date has been set for his return.Shamsi took four wickets in his first red-ball Test in Galle last week, which South Africa lost by 278 runs. In the first innings, Shamsi outbowled Keshav Maharaj, the left-arm orthodox, who had been ill in the build up to the Test and subsequently went wicketless. Maharaj found his rhythm as the match progressed and picked up four second-innings wickets.Galle was the first time since their tour of India in November 2015 that South Africa played two specialist spinners in their XI. With conditions likely to remain spinner-friendly, there is a likelihood that they could keep a similar combination for the second Test starting Friday.Should Shamsi not return in time, uncapped legspinner Shaun von Berg could make his Test debut at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo.

Karn Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah picked up their best T20 bowling figures, combining to take 7 for 23 in seven overs to lift Mumbai Indians into their fourth IPL final

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy19-May-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:11

Tait: Bumrah is consistent and unstoppable

Legspinner Karn Sharma and fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah picked up their best T20 bowling figures on the same day, combining to take 7 for 23 in seven overs to lift Mumbai Indians into their fourth IPL final with a six-wicket win against Kolkata Knight Riders.Sent in to bat on another difficult Chinnaswamy Stadium pitch, Knight Riders succumbed against excellent bowling plans to slump to 31 for 5 in seven overs. A 56-run sixth-wicket partnership between Suryakumar Yadav and Ishank Jaggi ensured they would get past their lowest total – 67, against the same opponents in 2008 – but their total of 107 was never going to present Mumbai a genuine challenge.Mumbai lost three wickets inside their Powerplay, before Krunal Pandya and Rohit Sharma steadied the chase with a 54-run stand. Krunal was unbeaten on 45 off 30 balls as Mumbai got home with 33 balls to spare.Bumrah, Karn demolish top order
Mumbai are among the best teams in the IPL at drawing up strategies against individual players. They proved this in the Powerplay.Bumrah had not taken the new ball this season, but he did so today. There seemed to be a reason for this – his exaggerated angle into the right-hander and the bit of extra bounce off his high-arm action can make it hard to hit down the ground. Down the ground is Chris Lynn’s go-to area, and even the presence of a fielder at long-on did not deter him – he only managed to pick him out, though, making contact with the ball off the high part of his bat.The exaggerated inward angle also did for Robin Uthappa, who has a pronounced tendency to plant his front leg across and play around his front pad. Bumrah, bowling a second over inside the Powerplay for only the third time this season, slipped one in nice and full, beat his inside edge, and pinged his front pad.In between those wickets, Karn took out Sunil Narine. Before this match, Narine had scored the bulk of his runs through mid-off, at a blistering pace: 78 – 36.45% of his 214 this season – off 24 balls. Mumbai had made note of this even in the previous meeting between these sides at Eden Gardens, stationing a man at long-off and getting their quicks to deny him the drive. He fell for a four-ball duck in that game, lofting a back-of-a-length offcutter from Tim Southee to extra-cover.This time, following broadly similar plans, Mitchell Johnson, Bumrah and Lasith Malinga gave him only 10 from seven balls – with six coming off one hit over square leg – before Karn came on to bowl the fifth over. The legspinner made a conscious effort to deny Narine swinging room, bowling at pads instead, and gave up only a leg-bye off two balls before he came back on strike. Frustrated, he ran down the pitch and was stumped slogging at the perfectly-pitched googly.Two more fell in Karn’s next over, the seventh of Knight Riders’ innings. Gambhir picked out deep midwicket and Colin de Grandhomme, camped in his crease to a googly he didn’t pick, was rapped on the back pad. Knight Riders were 31 for 5.A brief and inadequate fightback
Suryakumar and Jaggi stemmed the fall of wickets, but runs continued to trickle. By the end of the 12th over, Knight Riders were only 61 for 5. Then Suryakumar swept Krunal to the square-leg boundary and followed up by lifting him inside-out over extra-cover. Jaggi, who had been scoring at well below a run a ball till that point, also got into the act, whipping Malinga for two leg-side fours in the next over. Knight Riders made 22 off the 13th and 14th overs, but they were taking risks in order to score that quickly. Karn came back to bowl the 15th over, and Jaggi, getting too close to the pitch of the ball, whipped him straight to long-on.There was no real batting to follow, and Knight Riders only added 19 while losing their four remaining wickets, leaving seven balls unused. Johnson picked up two in the 17th over, Bumrah got his third in the 18th, and Malinga finished off the innings with a trademark dipping slower ball in the 19th.Krunal aces Mumbai’s chase
Mumbai only needed one partnership, and they got that courtesy Krunal and Rohit. They lost three wickets before that, though, two to Piyush Chawla. Like Karn, Chawla enjoyed the amount of grip he was getting off the surface; he foxed Lendl Simmons with a googly in the second over, and then bowled Ambati Rayudu after spinning a legbreak past his outside edge. In between, Parthiv Patel, who had hit three fours in racing to 14, top-edged Umesh Yadav to the keeper.Right from the time he walked in, there was a sense of awareness about Krunal’s batting. His first four was a paddle-sweep through the vacant short fine-leg area – Narine had moved that fielder to slip in a bid for wickets. Krunal showed ample signs that he was picking Narine’s variations out of his hand, scoring two fours in the 12th over – a dab to fine third man and a chip over the covers.Rohit pulled Nathan Coulter-Nile straight to deep square leg in the 13th over, but by then Mumbai only needed 20, off 46 balls. They would only need 13 to set up a summit clash against Rising Pune Supergiant.

Test bowlers Peter Siddle and James Pattinson were both among the wickets for Victoria as they restricted Tasmania to 241 despite a maiden first-class century from Beau Webster on the rain-affected opening day of the Sheffield Shield match at the MCG

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Feb-2016
ScorecardPeter Siddle picked up a couple of wickets in the lead up to the Trans Tasman Trophy•Getty Images

Test bowlers Peter Siddle and James Pattinson were both among the wickets for Victoria as they restricted Tasmania to 241 despite a maiden first-class century from Beau Webster on the rain-affected opening day of the Sheffield Shield match at the MCG.Siddle and Pattinson were each playing their first matches since some niggles ruled them out of the Big Bash League and ODI matches that followed the Tests against West Indies, and returns of two wickets each allowed them to regain some rhythm ahead of the looming series in New Zealand.Morning showers meant only 70.3 overs were possible on the day, enough time for the Bushrangers to work their way steadily through the Tigers’ batting order in conditions that afforded some assistance to bowlers.It might have been worse for the visitors if not for strong contributions from 22-year old Webster and 21-year old Ben McDermott. They came to the crease at 4 for 67 and batted with good sense to put on a hundred partnership after their captain Alex Doolan was dismissed in the 22nd over.McDermott stayed on to guide the tail to somewhere near 250 as the day faded out. Victoria’s openers survived two overs before the close for the addition of 10 runs.

Lancashire completed the formalities on an innings-and-52-run victory over bottom side Leicestershire during the first 70 minutes of day four

Graham Hardcastle at Grace Road05-Aug-2013
ScorecardKyle Hogg continued his superb form with the ball•Getty Images

Lancashire are targeting two more wins to clinch a return to Division One. The league leaders completed the formalities on an innings-and-52-run victory over bottom side Leicestershire during the first 70 minutes of day four to win for the sixth time this season and the fourth time in their last five matches. It would now take a collapse in form of sizeable proportions for them not to seal promotion.Kyle Hogg was their standout performer with the ball as he claimed three of the five wickets to fall during the morning session after Leicestershire had started on 128 for 5 and scored 22 runs in the first three overs of play.Hogg has had an exceptional season with the new ball, and clinched his second haul of five wickets or more, finishing with 5 for 77 from 22 overs. He has now taken 42 wickets, and is set to sail past his previous best of 50 wickets in the Championship-winning season of 2011.”He’s obviously bowled beautifully today, but he did that through the whole game,” Lancashire coach Peter Moores said. “The first two or three overs he bowled in the game down the hill, he struggled slightly for his rhythm. But like a good pro, he got himself sorted and bowled fantastically. He’s getting movement, and I said to him this morning ‘you could swing an orange at the moment’.”He puts a lot of balls in the right area, and he deserved his five-for. He’s certainly back to the form of 2011. Hoggy’s matured a lot as a bowler and how you handle yourself through disappointment. It’s obviously great for him to have Glen Chapple at the other end.”We’ve now got six wins. At the start of the season we targeted eight wins if we could, half your games. You never know what can happen because in England weather can always play a part. We were desperate to try and get wins last year, but we just kept coming across the weather and didn’t get a chance.”It’s been lovely this season to play and play good cricket. We’ve still haven’t been beaten yet. We’re the only side in country to have that. There’s intensity to how we’re playing at the moment.”The obvious joke would be that if Hogg could swing an orange, then Leicestershire batted like lemons. To not post 200 in either innings in a decent batting conditions, that description is not far off the mark. They have now lost by an innings two matches in a row.”There are not many positives, no,” Matt Boyce, the captain, said. “Where we sit in the table is reflected in the way they went about their business and the way we went about ours. There was a marked difference. They were at us every ball, and over four days that can get to a side that’s struggling for form.”I think the bowlers did well – it’s a flat wicket and 380 was about par in their first innings. It was an attritional wicket, one when you had to stop the other side scoring and chances would come. They had a few guys get fifties and get out, we had a few guys get thirties and get out.”Leicestershire batted with little care throughout the match, summed up this morning when Niall O’Brien, having reached his side’s first fifty of the match, needlessly flashed at Hogg outside off stump and found Andrea Agathangelou at second slip. It was not the shot to be played when trying to save a match and with the threat of rain around at some stage in the day.O’Brien was one of three wickets to fall inside seven and a half overs as the score slipped from 150 for 5 to 151 for 8. Chapple wrapped up the win for his side when he had James Sykes caught and bowled with his first ball of the morning.”Cricket is a confidence game,” Boyce said. “That’s what it revolves around and we’re sitting at the bottom of the table. We need to get some confidence in the guys in practice. We were never on top in this game. We’ve been on top in a lot of games this season, but we have to work harder to stay on top. When those moments come we need to really nail it. We can only go forward from here and that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to come in and work harder, work smarter, and think about cricket a bit more, and come out the other side a better team.”Not only does this win set Lancashire up perfectly for promotion even though there are still five matches left, it gives them the ideal tonic ahead of Wednesday’s FLt20 quarter-final against defending champions Hampshire.”It’s a really big game, and one we’re looking forward to,” Moores said. “It’s funny because I had a feeling we might get them, and I also had a feeling we were going to win. If that’s right or not we’ll see because it’s a tough place to play and they’re a good team. But we go there confident that if we execute our skills, it will be a very good contest.”

George Bailey, Australia’s Twenty20 captain, has said he expects the 15 men picked for the Twenty20 series against Pakistan in the UAE to be the same 15 who will carry Australia’s hopes in the ICC World Twenty20 next month

Brydon Coverdale14-Aug-2012George Bailey, Australia’s Twenty20 captain, has said he expects the 15 men picked for the Twenty20 series against Pakistan in the UAE to be the same 15 who will carry Australia’s hopes in the ICC World Twenty20 next month. Australia must name their final squad for the World T20 by Saturday and although a provisional 30-man group included surprise choices such as Dirk Nannes and Ben Laughlin, there are unlikely to be any wild-cards in the final squad.That should mean a three-man spin attack including Brad Hogg, Xavier Doherty, and the uncapped Glenn Maxwell, while other exciting T20 performers such as Steven Smith, Mitchell Marsh and Aaron Finch are likely to miss out. The 15 men who will take on Pakistan have been in Darwin over the past week for a training camp and Bailey said he was pleased with the mix the selectors had brought together ahead of the World T20 in Sri Lanka.”Yeah I’d hope [it will be the same squad], all things being equal. Hopefully that group of guys performs and stays fit and I think that’s the 15 that will be best suited for us to go as far as we can in that tournament,” Bailey told ESPNcricinfo. “We’ve got all bases covered. If we want to go in with a spin-laden team we can, or with all-rounders, or we’ve got some genuine pace.”I think we’ve got absolutely everything covered for whatever conditions are thrown up in Sri Lanka. Also a lot of the games are played on the same venues, so we’re expecting towards the back end of the tournament perhaps some tired wickets.”That could mean plenty of work for the spinners and accurate seamers such as Clint McKay, although first Australia must get through their group matches against West Indies and Ireland. By the end of the group stage, Bailey will not even have played ten Twenty20 internationals, having been thrust into the captaincy from outside the squad in January.Since then, he has led his country to two wins and two losses from four games: two matches at home against India in February, and two in the West Indies in March. Until they convened in Darwin, his men have not been together for more than four months, with some having played in Australia’s one-day tour of England, others having enjoyed stints in county cricket, and others having spent the winter at home.The three T20s against Pakistan in the UAE early next month will therefore be priceless preparation for Bailey’s side, especially given that last time they played, in the West Indies, the T20 squad was augmented by ODI players due to the distance from Australia and the infeasibility of flying T20 specialists around the world for two games.”The back end of that Dubai tour will be really good,” Bailey said. “It will be the first time we’ve been able to get that squad together for an extended period. Even just the time in Sri Lanka for the warm-up games I think will be really important just to actually start to get a feel for our specific roles and just having the group together continuously. I think that’s been our biggest challenge as a cricket team, Twenty20 wise, has been just finding out about being a team rather than just a group of guys thrown together.”Gelling as a unit will be critical if Australia are to go one better than in the 2010 World T20, when they reached the final but lost to England. Despite that effort Australia are ninth in the ICC’s T20 rankings, with only Ireland and Zimbabwe below them, but Bailey reads little into the rankings and believes the World T20 will be wide open for almost any side to win.”I reckon there’s about nine teams that at this stage could put their hands up and say they can win the tournament,” Bailey said. “We firmly believe we’re one of those. Playing in the subcontinent means all the subcontinent teams will be pretty dangerous. England and South Africa have got great depth and consistency in their teams and the way they play at the moment they’ll be dangerous.”First and foremost our biggest worry is West Indies, who are in our group. They have a team that is absolutely made for T20, great balance of pace, good spin bowlers and some of the best hitters in the world. It’s going to be really tough and it’s going to be very much about gelling our team and getting our heads around the fact that if we can put our best cricket together for two weeks, something very special could be at the other end.”

A round-up of the second day of matches at the Sri Lanka Cricket Inter-Provincial Twenty20

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jul-2011A rollicking opening stand between Thilan Samaraweera and Rumesh Buddika set up defending champion Wayamba‘s seven-wicket victory over Ruhuna at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Ruhuna chose to bat and made 150 for 7 on the back of Dinesh Chandimal’s 88, which came from just 57 balls and contained nine fours and two sixes. Samaraweera and Buddika set about the chase in earnest, adding 119 in 12 overs before they were separated. Both openers made 57, with Buddika scoring marginally quicker, needing 36 balls to Samaraweera’s 39. Comfortably ahead of the required run-rate by then, Wayamba coasted home with 16 balls to spare.Kandurata cantered to a ten-wicket win over Combined Provinces in game reduced to nine-overs-a-side by rain. Put in to bat, Combined Provinces were immediately in trouble as Muttiah Muralitharan struck twice in the first over, and it was only thanks to a quickfire 27 from Chaturanga de Silva that they managed 61 for 8. Kandurata openers Kumar Sangakkara and Tharanga Paranavitana chased that total down in just 6.4 overs, as Sangakkara smashed 37 from 19 balls.

The BCCI is currently negotiating with Nimbus Sport for the television productions rights for cricket played in India until 2014

Tariq Engineer31-Jul-2010The BCCI has entered into negotiations with Nimbus Sport for the television production rights for cricket played in India until 2014. The period covers about 350 domestic matches and 60 international matches.Nimbus, which owns the India broadcast rights until 2014, is the current holder of the production rights. The board had invited bids between July 23 and July 30 on payment of Rs 5 lakhs (about US$10,800) for the bid document.All the bids were opened at the BCCI working committee meeting held in Mumbai today and Cricinfo has learned Nimbus submitted the lowest bid. Subsequently, the committee “authorised the BCCI president to negotiate the deal,” according to a broadcasting official with knowledge of the situation. The deal is expected to be completed in the next two or three days.At the meeting, the working committee also turned down a request from India’s Commonwealth Games Committee to be its lead sponsor. “The Committee expressed its inability to agree to the request of the Commonwealth Games to be the lead partner by donating Rs. 100 crores (about $22 million),” the board said in a press release.The Indian Olympic Association President, Suresh Kalmadi, had complained about the board’s decision to schedule Australia’s tour of India at the same time as the event, and asked for a donation to help ensure the Commonwealth Games would be a success. The BCCI has come to the aid of sporting federations in the past, most recently giving the All India Football Federation a two-year grant of Rs 25 crores (about $ 5.5. million) in 2009 to develop the sport in the country.In light of the resolution of the WADA anti-doping issue, the board voted to seek the appointment of Dr Vece Paes, a former Olympian and father of Indian tennis player Leander Paes, a 12-time doubles Grand Slam champion, to be its anti-doping officer. According to the release, the details of Paes’ appointment are still to be worked out.The Board also agreed to give the Mumbai Cricket Association and the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association grants of Rs 20 crores (about $ 4.4 million) and Rs 25 crores (about $5.5. million) respectively for renovating stadiums, according to .

Khaled Ahmed has been cut from the group that toured India and Pakistan

Mohammad Isam16-Oct-2024The Bangladesh selectors naming Shakib Al Hasan in the Test squad for the first match against South Africa confirms that he will return to the country for the first time since May. Shakib is reportedly landing in Dhaka on Thursday, which allows him three days to prepare for his final Test match.Shakib announced his retirement in Kanpur on September 26, wishing to complete his Test career with at the Shere Bangla National Stadium. But he had expressed concern about his safety if he came to Bangladesh, given the number of Awami League leaders being arrested since August 5, the day their government effectively resigned from power after 15 years. Shakib was a member of parliament from his hometown Magura. He was one of 147 people named in an FIR for an alleged murder during the unrest.Although the BCB said that they couldn’t guarantee Shakib’s security, Bangladesh’s interim government confirmed – a couple of times – that he is unlikely to be arrested. But the sports adviser Asif Mahmud did say that the allrounder would be better off if he were to break his silence about the student protests. Shakib did that last week, when he put up an apology on Facebook.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Selector Hannan Sarkar said that Shakib was selected only after the BCB had given them the green light.”Shakib had expressed his desire to play his final Test at home. We also know that this was a government issue and BCB issue. We sought the BCB’s clearance so when they gave us the green signal that Shakib is available for selection, we picked him. We are proud to see our legend retiring from the home of cricket.Shakib is among four spin-bowling options in the squad, alongside Taijul Islam, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Nayeem Hasan. Almost everyone that were part of the recent tours to Pakistan and India made it to this squad as well, except the fast bowler Khaled Ahmed, who was picked to play in Kanpur but bowled only four overs.Shadman Islam and Zakir Hasan opened in all four Tests, while Mahmudul Hasan Joy has become their back-up. Mominul Haque and captain Najmul Hossain Shanto could continue at No. 3 and 4, rather than the other way around since Mominul got a century batting at No 3. Shakib, Mushfiqur Rahim, Litton Das and Mehidy round out a long Bangladesh batting order.
Taijul is usually picked in home Tests ahead of a third seamer. Taskin Ahmed and Hasan Mahmud should be the first choice, although Nahid Rana’s pace could be tempting.Bangladesh host South Africa for two Tests, in Mirpur from October 21 and in Chattogram from October 29. It is the first assignment under their interim coach Phil Simmons, who joined the squad on Wednesday, a day after the BCB removed Chandika Hathurusinghe from the position for disciplinary reasons.Bangladesh are currently seventh on the World Test Championship points table, after a 2-0 win in Pakistan and a 2-0 defeat in India. South Africa are fifth on the WTC standings, having most recently won a two-Test series 1-0 in the West Indies in August.

Bangladesh squad for first Test against SA

Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), Shadman Islam, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Zakir Hasan, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Das, Jaker Ali, Mehidy Hasan, Taijul Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Nahid Rana

Allrounder stars with 2 for 46 and 56 off 35 balls in rain-ravaged fixture

ECB Reporters Network15-Jul-2023A Katie George-inspired Central Sparks chased down a 164 target in 19 overs at Headingley to maintain their excellent recent form and pile more misery on defending Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy champions Northern Diamonds, winning by five wickets.A rain-ravaged fixture was completed with two balls remaining following showers all day. Former England all-rounder George starred with 2 for 46 from seven overs of left-arm seam and then 56 off 35 balls.The Diamonds were in a healthy position on 223 for 4 from 34 of 37 scheduled overs, with rain taking the players from the field at 3.20pm after a delayed start.When play resumed at 4.45pm, the Sparks were set their target, which they reached amidst an entertaining finale thanks to George’s best 50-over score this summer – her first campaign with the Midlanders.The second-placed Sparks have now won the last four matches they’ve played – they were rained off at home to Western Storm last week, while the Diamonds have lost their last three to dent their title defence and drop out of the top three qualifying places.Diamonds captain Hollie Armitage accelerated into a fine 66 off 56 balls, while Bess Heath crashed an unbeaten 49 off 31. They shared 66 inside seven overs for the fourth wicket from 131 for 3 in the 26th over.Play finally started at 12.40pm, with the game reduced to 39 overs per side. Another brief shower following the start forced a 37 -overs contest.The Diamonds got off to a fluent but not blistering start as Lauren Winfield-Hill and Sterre Kalis shared 60 inside 12 overs.Winfield-Hill made 28, while Kalis made 36 less than 24 hours after representing the Netherlands in a T20 international against Thailand in Utrecht.Such was the tight turnaround that Kalis’s kit was stuck on a flight, and she was forced to use an old bat of hers and some borrowed kit from team-mates. But she played confidently as the Sparks erred in line and length.England fast bowler Issy Wong was the main culprit, regularly bowling full tosses which were despatched to the fence.The innings slowed up after the off-spin of Georgia Davis bowled Winfield-Hill and Kalis was caught behind off George’s left-arm seam to make it 83 for 2 after 15 overs.Emma Marlow later fell to a smart diving catch by Bethan Ellis at cover off George, leaving the score at 131 for 3 in the 26th over and paving the way for Armitage and Heath to really open up. Both hit sixes over long-on.Forty four runs came in three overs from 153 for 3 after 29, though Armitage, having reached her fifty in 51 balls, fell to a stunning diving catch by Erin Burns on the run from long-on off Davis. Only two more overs were possible in the Diamonds’ innings before rain.When play resumed, the Sparks started their chase well, reaching 40 without loss in the fifth over and helped by two lots of five wides.Australian Burns, promoted to open, was first to go when caught at mid-on off Jess Woolston’s seam.Katie Levick bowled a sweeping Abbey Freeborn shortly afterwards before George hit the leg-spinner for three fours in the 10th over – two wide of long-on – to take the score to 84 for 2.Eve Jones, for 26, then scooped Grace Hall’s slingy seam to short fine-leg in the next over, leaving the score at 89 for 3.But George, helped by former Diamond Ami Campbell, maintained the momentum to ensure the Sparks won for the fifth time in nine games.George reached 50 off 30 balls and took the target to nine off the last two overs. She shared 72 with fourth-wicket partner Campbell, who added 27.Both were bowled by Levick at the start of the last over to heighten nerves, but it was too little, too late. Charis Pavely hit the winning runs.