Cornwall Women 196-5 (18pts) beat Wiltshire Women 85 (2pts)

Cornwall Women secured an 111-run victory in their final County Championship Division 3 group game at Wiltshire on Bank Holiday Monday.

The result means the Duchy side top their group and will advance to the promotion play-off with the other four group winners for two places in next season’s Division 2.

The match was reduced to 43 overs after rain overnight, with Cornwall batting first after Wiltshire won the toss.

This move worked out nicely for Cornwall as opening duo Caitlin Burnett (43) and Ellie Mitchell (30) started superbly.

Mitchell was eventually bowled by Holly White to leave the score at a 72-1, but Burnett kept going as she and Amber Cummins (18) crossed the century-mark before she was caught by Jodie Bounds.

Sophie Richards picked up where Burnett left off and strolled to 44 not out off 77 balls.

Rebecca Odgers (0) and Charlotte Phillips (4) lasted just nine balls between them, but it didn’t matter as Richards and Joleigh Roberts (26no) reached 196-5 before the end of their shortened allocation.

It wasn’t just about winning the match as Cornwall needed to secure more points than the Netherlands did against Dorset.

This made bowling points all the more vital, so the departure of opener Katherine Mills for a duck was a huge moment for the Duchy girls.

Mills was bowled by Roberts, who then took Sarah Rountree (2) to leave the hosts on 8-2.

No doubt inspired by her team-mate, Phillips bowled the next two herself with Melissa Story (1) and Rosie Pembroke (11) being caught by Kellie Williams and Isabel Grant-French respectively as the hosts limped to 25-4.

White stemmed the bleeding a little bit for her side, scoring 37 off 92 balls including the only six of the game, but she was bowled by Mitchell who went on to control the remainder of the match.

Mitchell went on to take Bounds (17), Dunsford (0) and Annika King (1) as she recorded stunning figures of 4-9 as Wiltshire were eventually all out for 85.

Those figures were all the more important as Cornwall secured four crucial bowling points, which put them just one point ahead of second-placed Netherlands.

  • Cornwall’s penultimate group game took place 24 hours earlier at Dorset on Sunday, with the Duchy winning by eight wickets in a short-lived encounter.

The visitors won the toss and put Dorset in to bat, with only Victoria Pack (16) and Sarah Matthews (10) reaching double figures for the home side.

Williams took 4-10 while Mitchell took 2-10 as Dorset limped to 57 all out after 36.2 overs.

Despite losing Burnett (3) early on, Mitchell (28) and Cummins (22no) did most of the work as they reached their target after just nine overs.

  • Cornwall will now face one of Scotland, Oxfordshire, Suffolk or Worcestershire for a place in Division 2 for 2019.