Essex and Lancs claim first T20 wins of campaign
Essex and Lancashire both claimed their first victories of the season in the Women's T20 Blast.Wicketkeeper Lauren Winfield-Hill top scored with 42 from 25 balls as Essex set Somerset a target of 150 to win at Chelmsford.Somerset's Ellie Anderson picked up figures of 3-19 off four overs which included the wicket of Essex captain Grace Scrivens with the seamer's first ball of the innings.Olivia Barnes took a stunning catch at square leg to remove Lissy Macleod, one of two catches by Barnes, who was forced off with a hand injury after the second and was unable to take any further part in the match.Somerset stalled in their reply, and when Eva Gray's in-swinger took skipper Sophie Luff's off stump to leave them on 29-4, the visitors chances looked to be in tatters.A fifth-wicket partnership worth 25 runs between Fran Wilson and Alex Griffiths gave Somerset a brief glimmer of hope, but when Wilson fell to leg-spinner Abtaha Maqsood, the writing was on the wall for the visitors.Esmae MacGregor finished with career-best T20 figures of 4-8 as Somerset were quickly bowled out for 84, still 66 runs short of their target, with last batter Barnes unfit to take to the crease.Lancashire Thunder bounced back from their seven-wicket defeat by The Blaze on Saturday with a gutsy 18-run victory at Chester-le-Street.The visitors put on 140-7 in their 20 overs with captain Ellie Threlkeld top scoring with 48 and Aisla Lister adding an important knock of 42 not out.Durham's run chase started well with Suzie Bates and Katherine Fraser putting on 61 for the first wicket as the hosts went in search of a first win of the campaign.But Thunder recovered in the second half of the innings, taking nine wickets for only 61 runs. Four wickets from Grace Potts (4-33) and two each for Sophie Morris (2-22), Sophie Ecclestone (2-24) and Grace Johnson (2-25) helped turn the match around for the Red Rose.
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