Katya Witney at Weetwood
On an overcast day at Weetwood CC, far from the glorious sunshine of the week before, Yorkshire held out against the Northern Representatives to claim a thrilling victory.
Yorkshire won the toss and elected to bat but were soon in trouble after Summer Carrington took the wickets of Buck and Armitage in her second over.
At 19 for 2, edges continued to fly. Phoebe Turner got a thick edge on a ball from Abigail Glen which flew through the vacant slip region and hit another up in the air a few balls later, narrowly avoiding the hands of two chasing fielders.
Turner rode her luck, giving a couple of half-chances to the Rep fielders but she was finally bowled by Emily Sutton in the eighth over, leaving Yorkshire 39 for 3.
Bath Langstone showed positive intent from the off as she came to the crease, flicking her first delivery from Sutton elegantly down to the leg-side boundary. Elise Good followed up in Sutton's next over, skipping down the wicket and belting her down the ground for four.
However, just as Langston and Good were looking productive for the White Roses, Good mistimed an aggressive shot off Sachi Pai, getting a leading edge straight to Alice Clarke at mid-off.
Emma Marlow now joined Langston at the crease and after hitting Pai for a powerful four down the ground she was almost caught at square-leg, the ball falling just short of the fielder.
Marlow was out the following over, swiping at a ball from Ray and only succeeding in edging through to the keeper leaving Yorkshire 84 for 5 going into the final five.
Despite the steady flow of wickets, Yorkshire managed to keep the runs ticking over. Rachel Slater was caught off a no-ball from Ray in the 16th and dropped twice in consecutive balls in the 18th before she was bowled by Glen.
After an entertaining finish from the tailenders, Yorkshire set a target of 118.
Rebecca Duckworth and Abigail Glen made a slow start for the Northern Reps, unable to score fluently off some tight bowling from Beth and Rachel Slater.
However, after the first boundary came in the seventh over the Reps were able to gain some momentum with Glen taking Grace Hall for 11 off her first over.
By the halfway stage, Yorkshire were still searching for the breakthrough with the Reps' openers having scored 47, just shy of where Yorkshire were at the same stage but without the loss of wickets.
It was beginning to look ominous for Yorkshire until Armitage found an opportunity in the 13th over, taking the crucial wicket of Glen, bowled off a full delivery.
The Rep's slow scoring rate in the first few overs began to hurt them as they struggled to up the pace. Despite Duckworth's best efforts playing a couple of beautiful cover drives off Armitage, the Reps found themselves needing 44 off the final five. Not impossible, but tough.
Hall's well bowled slower ball gave Yorkshire the wicket they were searching for in the 18th, Duckworth departing for 38 and bringing Alice Clarke to the crease.
The Reps were scoring at the required ten an over, however, helped by an unfortunate misfield from Rachel Slater who tipped a catch over the boundary for six and needed 16 from the final over to claim victory; but Hall held her nerve well after bowling a full toss, limiting the Reps to nine off the over and seeing her side home in thrilling fashion.
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