Vipers come out on top at Millfield

Maia Bouchier and Georgia Adams scored notable half centuries in challenging conditions to steer Southern Vipers to a four-wicket victory over Western Storm in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy at Millfield School.

Chasing a revised target of 238 in a match reduced to 48 overs-a-side by rain, Bouchier and Adams posted 71 and 59 respectively and staged a stand of 95 for the second wicket as the visitors overcame gale-force winds to win with 26 balls to spare.

Emma Corney had earlier made a career-best 69, while Fran Wilson hit 49 and Niamh Holland 44 as Storm raised 230-5 after having been put into bat. Adams completed an outstanding all-round performance by taking 2-50 with the ball, and fellow spinner Linsey Smith weighed in with 2-36 as Vipers took wickets at key moments to restrict the scoring.

A third win in nine outings lifted Vipers up to fifth place in the table, but Storm remain rooted to the bottom after losing for a fourth time in eight games, their progress further frustrated by three rained off fixtures.

With the threat of rain ever present, bowling first was always going to be the preferred option and Vipers made a decent fist of chasing. Storm struck an early blow with the ball, new loan signing Phoebe Graham having Ella McCaughan superbly held by Chloe Skelton at deep backward square for 10. But the fluent Bouchier set the tone for the reply, smiting Australian Piepa Cleary over extra cover for a huge six into the wind.

Ultra-positive in her approach, skipper Adams managed to out-score her partner, twice cover driving leg spinner Nicole Harvey for four and then hoisting her over extra cover for six to give Vipers a super-charged start.

Scoring freely on either side of the wickets against the spinners, Bouchier reached a chanceless 50 from 54 balls as the visitors kept on top of the rate, raising 100 from 20 overs. Adams went to 50 from 53 balls, by which time the second wicket pair were cruising.

Storm urgently required a breakthrough and Griffiths obliged in the 26th over, Bouchier attempting to work her into the leg side and succeeding only in offering a return catch via a leading edge. The South African international had faced 72 balls, accrued 5 fours and a six and provided her team with a solid platform.

Emily Windsor joined Adams with a further 102 runs required at 4.50 an over, and was afforded a life when Wilson dropped her on 12 at mid-wicket off the bowling of Skelton. But Wilson made no mistake when holding onto the next chance that came her way, Adams clipping a ball from Cleary to mid-wicket to bring her 66-ball innings to an end in the 32nd over. She had harvested 5 fours and a six and laid the foundations of victory.

When Windsor holed out to deep backward square for 21 off the bowling of Skelton, Vipers were 175-4, requiring a further 63 runs from 79 balls, and Storm sensed an opportunity. Cleary removed Brown for 10, but Freya Kemp held her nerve, timed the ball beautifully and struck 47 from 36 balls with 8 fours to render victory a formality.

Promoted up the order earlier this season, teenager Corney had played her part in some useful opening stands without quite managing to go on and convert a series of decent starts into a truly meaningful score. That all changed on this occasion, the Devonian braving atrocious conditions to register her maiden half century and give Storm a solid foundation after they had been put in.

Yet it might have been an altogether different story had Maia Bouchier held onto a chance at mid-on in the fourth over when Corney had made just one. The 19-year-old chanced her arm against Linsey Smith’s slow left arm, only for the ball to then hold up in the swirling wind and render life difficult for the fielder. Corney made good her escape to dominate an opening stand of 43 with Alex Griffiths in 12.4 overs.

Griffiths struggled with the fierce winds and scratched seven runs from 38 balls. Bowled by an Alice Monaghan no-ball in the ninth over, she eventually perished four overs later, driving the same bowler hard to mid-on, where Bouchier demonstrated safe hands to make atonement for her earlier error.

Determined to play on the front foot and carry the fight to Vipers, Sophie Luff proved adept at finding gaps in the field, raising the tempo in a profitable alliance of 52 in 13.2 overs for the second wicket, despite a slow outfield turning fours into twos and the wind rendering aerial shots unwise.

Visibly growing in confidence, Corney accelerated to 50 from 75 balls, pulling Maitlan Brown behind square to reach that landmark with her fifth boundary as Storm advanced to 93-1 at the halfway point of the innings. Luff had made 20 and looked set to post a substantial total when she unexpectedly succumbed to temptation, pulling Adams violently and falling to a stunning diving catch by Monaghan at mid-wicket with the score on 95.

Fran Wilson then provided mid-innings impetus, helping Corney add a further 36 for the third wicket before the latter stepped down the pitch to Smith and drove high to Adams at long-on. Niamh Holland joined the experienced Wilson at the crease and these two had progressed the score to 167-3 in 38.3 overs when a heavy rain shower forced the players off.

An early lunch ensured just two overs were lost and a damp ball and outfield aided Storm when play resumed, Wilson and Holland scoring at a good lick in adding 63 for the fourth wicket in 10.1 overs. Having faced 47 balls and accrued five boundaries in reaching 49, Wilson chipped Smith to mid-on, leaving the adventurous Holland to score 44 at slightly better than a run-a-ball to hoist the home side to respectability.

At the close of play, Emma Corney said: “It’s not the result we wanted, but there have been so many positives again. The table does not tell the real story – we are a very young side and we are making big improvements. We’ve lost wickets in clusters previously, but we responded well to people getting out in this game. There were partnerships throughout the batting with an excellent cameo from Naimh Holland at the end. On a personal note, t was great to get that first 50 and I owe a lot  to Sophie Luff and Fran Wilson, who gave me a great deal of help out there. It was difficult in the wind, but we felt we’d posted a competitive total. I thought we bowled and fielded pretty well, but there were perhaps too many four balls. Georgia Adams and Maia Bouchier are class players and they threatened to take the game away from us. We kept plugging away and ended up taking the game deep. We just need to keep bowling straight and believe in what we are doing and the results will come.”