County Championship Roundup: Early Contenders start to show credentials

Round two of the Royal London Women's One-Day Cup County Championship saw a number of one-sided matches in both divisions. The sun shone brightly for the second day and there were some noticeable performances from some world-class players.
 
Division one
Kent v Lancashire
Kent capped off the perfect weekend with a 9-wicket victory over Current champions Lancashire. Laura Marsh for the second day in a row was the pick of the bowlers as she took 3 for 34. Arlene Kelly and Tash Farrant made early inroads and when Marsh joined in Lancashire were 77 for 8. Sophie Ecclestone 23, Rachel Dickinson 36 Sussex and Nalisha Patel lead a comeback to give Lancashire 157 all out.
Tammy Beaumont then finished the weekend with another score of note. Having scored 63 not out yesterday Beaumont followed it up with 70 not out. It was again Alice Davidson-Richards who shared in a partnership of over 100. Davidson-Richards finishing on 61 not out.
Kent won with 12.3 over to spare, to put last season well and truly behind them.
 
Hampshire v Warwickshire
Hampshire continued their great start to life in division one as Suzie Bates scored a hundred as Hampshire posted 259 for 6. Bates 148 was by far t105 he biggest scores of the day and Hampshire’s next highest scorer was Charlotte Edwards with 35 not out.
Thea Brookes was the only Warwickshire batsman to pass 50 with an innings of 70 not out. Brookes ran out of partners as Warwickshire were bowled out for 166 to lose by 93 runs. Danielle Ransley took 3 wickets for just 12 runs from her four overs.
Hampshire 259 for 6 beat Warwickshire 166 all out by 93 runs.
 
Somerset v Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire continued a theme of one-sided matches in division one as the won their first game of the season. It was against a Somerset side that tied their game yesterday with Warwickshire.
The Nottinghamshire pair of  Yvonne Graves and Jodie Dibble added 105 for the third wicket to give the East Midlanders the advantage.
Georgia Tulip the Somerset bowler again impressed with figures of 3 for 26 from 9 overs.
Somerset, however, found batting tough as Kirstie Gordon bowling as the first change took five wickets for just 26 runs. Then Lucy Higham wrapped things up with two wickets for just two wickets to give Nottinghamshire a happy journey home.
 
Division Two
Sussex v Northamptonshire
Sussex not only made it two wins in two days but impressively also won both games with a margin of over 200 runs. Northamptonshire were the next side to suffer on the South Coast.
Sarah Taylor top scored for Sussex with 88, there were also noticeable contributions from Georgia Elwiss 46, and Paige Scholfield 42 not out. Sussex posted 285 for 6 from their 50 overs.
Elwiss followed up her batting with figures of 3 for 13, Northamptonshire were bowled out as the Sussex bowling attack chipped in with regular wickets to be bowled out for just 76.
Sussex 285 for 6 beat Northamptonshire 76 all out by 209 runs.
 
Berkshire v Devon
Berkshire beat Devon despite being bowled out for just 123.  It was to be a day to remember for Lauren Bell as she firstly helped Berkshire recover from 71 for 8.
Bell then returned bowling figures of 4 for 17, as Devon were bowled out for 102. Earlier Hazel Garton finished with 5 for 18 from ten overs. In normal circumstances, it would have been enough to win the game.
 
Surrey v Wales
Surrey’s impressive top order clicked to make it two wins from two. Both Kirstie White and Nat Sciver made big fifties but couldn’t quite convert them into hundreds. White was six runs short when she was bowled by Lauren Parfitt for 94.
Natalie Sciver put the disappointment of a duck on Sunday by scoring 87 before being run out. Surrey could easily have posted a score of over 300 had it not been for 4 wickets in 4.5 overs for Naomi Davies.
Gabby Basketter was the only Wales to go past the fifty mark with 54 before falling to Bryony Smith.
It caused a collapse as Wales slid from 105 for 2 to 161 all out, a Surrey’s bowlers shared the wickets with Smith taking 3 for 18.
Surrey 283 all out beat Wales 161 all out by 122 runs.
 
Essex v Derbyshire
One of the closest games finished in a 4-run win for Sussex at Southend. Needing 144 to win a Sarah Glenn inspired chase fell just short.
It took an innings of 51 from Mady Villiers to help Essex to a total of 143 for 9 from their 50 overs. Alice Dyson took three wickets including two of the top three as Derbyshire kept the run rate down. Glenn was conceding just 22 in ten wicketless overs.
Glenn then hit 72, and when Beth Dodd dismissed her Derbyshire’s hopes of a win faded as 4 of Derbyshire’s batsmen failed to score. Dodd finished with three wickets for just 9 runs as Essex won.
Essex 143 for beat Derbyshire by 4 runs.