Coco Streets’ unbeaten century gave Kent Women consecutive One Day Cup wins on Sunday afternoon.
Streets’ 104*, her second century for Kent, proves the difference as Kent beat Sussex Sharks by six wickets. Kent have won their first two matches in the competition, having beaten Derbyshire Falcons two weeks previously.
Sussex accumulated their runs gradually in their innings, with the slow pitch proving difficult to score freely on. Phoebe Wilkinson’s 74 was the bedrock of their innings with support from Mollie Adams (43) and Shristi Patil (32) as the Sharks were bowled out for 217 in 49.2 overs.
In their response, Kent began more aggressively, but soon found a steady rhythm, keeping up with the run rate throughout their innings. Streets carried her bat for her 104 and was well-supported by Izzy Cloke and Maddie Blinkhorn-Jones, who made 33 and 24 respectively.
Having lost the toss and been invited to bat, Sussex began their innings cautiously, scoring 33 runs from the first ten overs with three boundaries.
Izzy Cloke broke the opening partnership in her first over when she had Izzy Collis caught behind for 14.
Opener Mollie Adams then built a solid 59-run partnership with Phoebe Wilkinson, accumulating steadily over the next 16 overs as the Kent bowling was tight. Izzy James was particularly miserly in her spell, ending with figures of 0 for 27 from her ten overs, which included ten runs coming from her final over.
Skipper Megan Belt finally broke the partnership with the wicket of Adams for 43, who was caught at mid-off by Izzy James, attempting an aggressive shot.
At this point, Sussex had reached 103-2 from their 30 overs, so with wickets in hand they looked to increase the scoring rate.
Shristi Patil provided them with some impetus. After being dropped on 2, she breezed her way to 32 from 30 balls, including two fours from James’ final over, before she was expertly stumped by Maddie Blinkhorn-Jones in Amy Gordon’s third over.
Phoebe Wilkinson, who was the anchor of the Sussex innings, began to play more aggressively, hitting three consecutive fours from Hollie Young’s over, when she reached her 50. She then hit a six and a four in Cloke’s final over – both over the bowler’s head.
Wilkinson was eventually dismissed for a well-made 76 in the 39th over, caught in the deep by Coco Streets from Gordon’s bowling.
With the run-rate around 4.4 and ten overs to go, Sussex attempted to accelerate, but wickets fell regularly to some good bowling from Kent.
Gordon had Bella Johnson caught and bowled for 6, while Belt had Poppy Tulloch caught at cover for 9.
The Kent opening bowlers returned to clear up the lower order with Sydney Gorham picking up three wickets in 12 balls, dismissing Chaira Green (15), Eve O’Neill (5) and Anna Buckle (6). Zeena Bilal removed Kali-Ann Docherty in the final over, leaving Sussex on what looked to be an under-par 217 all out.
The Kent chase began with more impetus than the Sussex innings as Streets and Cloke moved comfortably to 47-0 from the ten powerplay overs. Cloke initially began with more caution than Streets, taking 17 balls to get off the mark, but she then hit boundaries from the next three overs to catch up with her opening partner.
As the powerplay ended, the Sussex bowling tightened up. Spinners Johnson and O’Neill kept the Kent pair quiet, gradually bringing the run-rate down from 4.7 to 3.75 between overs 10 and 20 with no boundaries scored.
In the 22nd over, the pressure at both ends finally paid off as Cloke was stumped for 32 by a ball that spun sharply from O’Neill. Kent were 81-1.
Streets reached her 50 in the 25th over with a pull behind square.
After drinks, Sussex got their second wicket, albeit in a very expensive over. Kelly Castle mistimed a shot and was caught at backward square, but the over from Indigo Gentry cost 20 runs, including two fours, five wides and two no-balls.
Streets and Blinkhorn-Jones built a partnership of 46 over the next ten overs until Blinkhorn-Jones attempted a reverse sweep off Johnson’s first ball of her spell and was caught behind for 24.
The next over, Streets was dropped on 75 by a backpedalling fielder at mid-off, who seemed to lose the ball in the sun.
With ten overs to go, Kent needed 45 to win, with the pitch continuing to favour spin. The run chase still looked far from a formality, especially when Patil’s first over only went for a single run.
However, 14 runs from the 42nd over, including a six from Gordon eased any Kent nerves as the equation became 30 needed from 48.
There was, however, more peril for Kent as Gordon was bowled by Patil for 17, having survived a missed stumping a few balls earlier. Kent still needed 22 from 42 balls with new batter Elsa Barnfather at the crease.
Streets brought up her century with a boundary off Docherty and won the game a ball later as Kent celebrated their second win in this year’s competition, with Streets ending on 104*.
Picture supplied by Kent Cricket.