Wales Winning Ways Continue with Convincing Victory over Derbyshire

23rd May 2018 | Mallory Gray

Wales’ Winning Ways Continue with Convincing Victory over Derbyshire

Following their dominant win over Northants last weekend, Wales Women continued their winning streak with a crushing 121-run win victory over Derbyshire at Panteg CC on Sunday. Captain Lauren Parfitt lost the toss and Wales were put into bat, a decision which the opposition would surely question soon after!

On a gloriously bright day, openers Rachel Priest and Gabby Basketter capitalised on plentiful loose deliveries from a young Derbyshire side, with Priest striking 15 fours and 1 six in her innings of 88 off 82 balls. The pair put on an incredible 151 for the first wicket. Basketter hit a commanding 71 before being caught at deep midwicket, and Lauren Parfitt fell for 7, leaving youngsters Alex Griffiths and Georgia Parfitt to build upon the foundations laid by the opening pair. The pair demonstrated some excellent running between the wickets to add 43 for the fourth wicket as Derbyshire’s bowlers built some pressure following a couple of quick wickets, with Parfitt hitting a more than useful 29. A few lower-order wickets fell quickly towards the end of the innings but the platform had been laid: Wales finished on 248-8 off their 50 overs, gaining full batting points in the process.

Wales were extremely confident and motivated to gain an emphatic win as quickly as possible, and another tight opening spell from Danielle Gibson and Ffion Wynne gave them a decent start by removing both openers early. The bowlers built pressure excellently through dot balls and bowling the tight lines that Derbyshire struggled to maintain. Spinners Claire Nicholas (3-26) and Nicole Reid (3-22) built upon the hard work of the opening bowlers by creating another effective partnership and taking the majority of the scalps between them.

Youngster Bess Heath hit an impressive 56 for the opposition, and was the last wicket to fall having come in at number 4, but the batsmen around her struggled, with 10 being the next highest score. Derbyshire were bowled out for 127 within 40 overs, and Wales will be hoping to take their momentum into their Bank Holiday fixtures next week against Sussex and Essex.