England Women’s Natalie Sciver on her historic knock for Northern Diamonds

Sciver starred in the nine-run win over Lightning at Chester-le-Street on Monday, scoring 104 from 116 balls to help her side recover from 24-4 to reach 226-9 before they restricted the visitors to 217-7 in the 50-over tournament.

The England star also chipped in with two wickets as Danielle Hazell’s girls made it two wins out of two in the six-match group stage to go top of the four-team northern section.

“It’s not a bad feeling to be the first Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy centurion and the first for the Northern Diamonds,” said Sciver, who struck 13 fours in her historic innings.

“It’s a brilliant start for us and hopefully we could be on for the win this year.”

Sciver, 28, was available for the first two group games along with fellow England players Katherine Brunt, Linsey Smith and Lauren Winfield ahead of this month’s T20 series against the West Indies.

Diamonds certainly took advantage of their availability; Winfield top-scored with 72 in the nine-wicket win against Central Sparks at Edgbaston on Saturday after Brunt had taken 5-20.

Smith has also impressed with the ball as the Diamonds – who represent Yorkshire, Durham and Northumberland – look forward to their return match against Lightning at Grace Road on Saturday.

For now, Sciver and her England colleagues take their leave, with Sciver’s hundred in Chester-le-Street a fond farewell.

“I was pretty happy with my performance,” she said. “It was tough going with the bat. It’s not helpful when you’re losing wickets at the other end, and it became quite clear that I needed to bat deep into the innings.

“I was happy that I was able to show some restraint; at times it was difficult, but we were able to get up to a competitive total in the end.”

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James Mitchinson