Jake Perry looks ahead to Round Four of the Women's Super Series.
The Cricket Scotland Women's Super Series reaches Goldenacre this week, where the fourth round of matches will be played on Sunday. Two wins for the Sutton XI saw them square the series at Forthill, and with a break to accommodate the Beyond Boundaries Scottish Cup quarter-finals coming up next weekend, both they and the Ross XI will be looking for maximum points to take into the final round of the competition in a fortnight.
The two games played at Forfarshire offered some of the most intriguing cricket of the contest so far. In game one, the Ross XI batters had looked odds-on to reach 200, Ailsa Lister, Becky Glen and Megan McColl all scoring rapidly around Abbi Aitken-Drummond's 45, but the Suttons did well to claw them back, Abbie Hogg taking 4 for 26 and Priyanaz Chatterji 2 for 24 as their opponents slipped from a ten-an-over score of 97 for 2 to a final total of 136 all out.
It was still a decent target, made all the more so after two great catches and a fourth-ball wicket from Hannah Rainey reduced the Suttons to 17 for 3, but a partnership of 66 between skipper Katie McGill and the in-form Chatterji was crucial in getting the chasers back on track again. The match-winning hand, though, was played by Samantha Haggo, whose brilliant 28, well supported by Orla Montgomery, saw their side over the line with eight balls to spare. A two-wicket win, but much more than that was the manner in which it was achieved, the cool head of Haggo guiding her younger partner through those closing stages – getting the result is one thing, but the value of this competition in the development of Scotland's up-and-coming talent has been massive already.
Similar qualities were also on show in the second game, as Anne Sturgess, Niamh Robertson-Jack and Zoe Rennie refused to throw in the towel despite their team sliding to 40 for 7 in their chase of the Suttons' modest total of 121. Another fine knock from Katherine Fraser ensured respectability for the Ross XI, too, the off-spinner having earlier taken 3 for 11 as the Sutton XI lost their last five wickets for just five runs. But it was still their day in the end, with Abbie Hogg, Katie McGill, Nayma Shaikh and Charis Scott taking two wickets apiece as the Suttons squared the series at three games all.
And so to Edinburgh, where, as at Titwood, a new pitch awaits the two teams. The unused surface at Clydesdale produced 637 runs two weeks ago; on a ground both sides know well, it will be fascinating to see what this latest one can produce on Sunday.
The Cricket Scotland Super Series will be live-scored and streamed via CS Live.
Ross XI: Abbi Aitken-Drummond, Ailsa Lister, Becky Glen, Megan McColl, Katherine Mills, Emily Cavender, Katherine Fraser, Hannah Rainey, Caitlin Ormiston, Niamh Robertson-Jack, Anne Sturgess, Zoe Rennie.
Sutton XI: Katie McGill, Priyanaz Chatterji, Ellen Watson, Samantha Haggo, Lorna Jack, Abbie Hogg, Charis Scott, Emma Walsingham, Emily Tucker, Orla Montgomery, Nayma Shaikh, Niamh Muir.
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Jake Perry is the author of The Secret Game
Twitter: @jperry_cricket / Facebook: Jake Perry Cricket
As part of our ongoing coverage of men's and women's domestic cricket, The Cricket Scotland Podcast will include a round-up of the Super Series every Tuesday, with analysis and player interviews along with those from other featured games. Follow @ScotlandPod on Twitter for all the latest information.
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