Gwenan Takes Wales to Second Place in their Group

        Gwenan acknowledging her remarkable century against Lancashire 

Defeat by Sussex left Wales with only a slim chance of winning their group in order to contest the final.  Their excellent defeat of Lancashire, however, was only good enough to give then second place as Sussex defeated Scotland to take their rightful place in the final to be played on Saturday, 23rd February.

The critical match against Sussex was a day night fixture played at Dubai Men's College. Wales won the toss and elected to bat and got off to a solid start putting on 57 before the first wicket fell. The Wales openers Lauren Parfiitt 27 and Bethan Moorcraft 21 battled hard through some very tight Sussex bowling before Lauren was caught at point to bring Gwenan Davies to the crease. Gwenan batted aggressively, scoring 58 off 63 balls to attempt an increase in the run rate and to give Wales a competitive score. Anwen Morgan batted with maturity beyond her 15 years for the last 13 overs with Gwenan where they put on a partnership of 64 to give Wales a respectable score of 144 for 6 off 40 overs. Sussex bowled well throughout the Wales innings making it difficult to score.

Sussex batted fluently from the start and their openers did not provide Wales with any opportunities until the game was almost won. Sussex eventually passed the Welsh total for the loss of 2 wickets after 28.3 overs.

The Lancashire game, played at the Emirates Airline's ground, provided Gwenan Davies with another opportunity to demonstrate her outstanding form on this trip. Wales won the toss and elected to bat, which proved to be a great decision. They quickly raced to an impressive total of 230 dominated by a fantastic 102 runs from just 82 balls by Gwenan. Gwenan shared a second wicket stand of 82 in 98 balls with Skipper Bethan Moorcroft (56) and was not dismissed until the final over of the innings.

Lancashire gave a battling response with Emma Lamb scoring 56.  Initially the Lancashire girls maintained the required rate, but an excellent spell by spin bowler Isobel Day (8-0-42-3) checked their progress. After 40 overs Lancashire were 195 for 7 - 35 runs short.

This victory confirmed second place in the Group Stage for the Wales team.

3rd/4th play-off Devon CB v Cricket Wales

Saturday - 23rd Feb - 11am

Zayed Nursery Ground 1, Abu Dhabi 

Umpires - I Morris and I Herbert