Marsh and Davidson-Richards share unbeaten stand to see off Notts

Kent cruised to an eight-wicket win against Nottinghamshire at Welbeck to cement their place in third. Kent could still be in the race for the title if Yorkshire and Hampshire slip up.

Nottinghamshire won the toss on a pitch that had a tinge of green but without the demons usually associated. Sonia Odedra had no hesitation in batting first on a ground that has been kind to her over the years. Nottinghamshire talked about playing with an intensity in their bank holiday weekend fixtures, but it was Kent that played with higher intensity from the start.

Arlene Kelly and Izzy Cloke bowled a tight line during the powerplay that both Odedra and Georgie Boyce could not get hold of. The first boundary of the game off the bat didn’t arrive until the 13^th over. It was the bounce that the opening bowlers were getting made straight shots hard to pierce the field, that’s to say that shots square of the wicket were any easier. Boyce doing just that could not get enough elevation to clear Laura Marsh at gully.

There was no let up from Kent when the time came to change the bowlers as the experienced Marsh and Alice Davidson-Richards, not for the last time in the match combined to put the pressure on Nottinghamshire. Odedra at one end looked calm while the others who batted around her struggled to rotate the strike and make Kent change their plans. Lucy Higham and Teresa Graves looked like the two most likely to do so. Higham fell in Chelsey Rowson’s first over for 12.

A partnership of 64 between Graves and Odedra started to up the run rate. In truth, Nottinghamshire needed to post a total nearer 200 to stand any chance against a quality Kent batting line-up. Odedra top scored with 89, which is the highest score by a Nottinghamshire player at Welbeck, Odedra now has the three highest scores by a Nottinghamshire player on this ground.

Kent got their reply off to a steady start with the powerplay overs with the visitors reaching 44 for 1. The running between the wickets was of the highest order. With the boundaries straight down the ground on the long side and allowed more threes than are normally seen. With a willingness to run quick singles the pressure told. Fumbles in the outfield led to boundaries that Nottinghamshire could ill afford.

It was a bittersweet day for Kirstie Gordon. She broke the record for most wickets in a season for Nottinghamshire. Bowling Beaumont who tried to cut too close to her stumps to give her 17th wicket of the season. It was to be the last wicket of the game as Marsh and Davidson-Richards put on a stand of 104 for the third wicket to win the game with more than ten overs to spare. Both looked at ease and were confident enough to wait for the bad ball. The singles became easier to find as a consequence.

For Nottinghamshire, they will be glad that they play again tomorrow as they will want to forget about this performance. They missed Jodie Dibble today, but it did enable them to give a debut to Maddie Ward.

Both teams have games on Monday, Kent travel to Birmingham to face Warwickshire while Nottinghamshire have a home game against Middlesex.