Northern Diamonds lack polish to bring home silverware against Southern Vipers

The England batsman admitted that too many players “got themselves out rather than being got out” as Diamonds went down by 38 runs to Southern Vipers in the final of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy at Edgbaston.

Chasing 232, Diamonds were, if not quite cruising, then certainly proceeding comfortably at 74-1 in the 15th over for the loss of only Winfield-Hill herself, caught in the covers for 20.

But when they suddenly collapsed to 110-7, Vipers off-spinner Charlotte Taylor doing most of the damage en route to 6-34, a manageable task became an insurmountable one and they were bowled out for 193, Sterre Kalis top-scoring with 55. “We lost it in our batting innings,” said captain Winfield-Hill. “There were a lot of soft dismissals.

“A lot of people got themselves out rather than being got out, especially early on, and then you’re always under pressure to keep up with the rate.

“But credit to the girls for sticking at it right the way down to the end, and we showed some good character and fight.”

Winfield-Hill felt 260 was about a par score, highlighting how well her players did to dismiss the Vipers for 231 after they had been 150-1 in the 32nd over, captain Georgia Adams leading the way with 80.

The Vipers collapse was similarly stark as they slid to 191-8 before their last two wickets added 40.

“I think they probably got 20 or 30 at the end of their innings when we probably let them back into it in terms of momentum,” said Winfield-Hill.

“I thought we did really well to drag them back and control the game, but people down the order chipped in and that proved to be the difference.

“We thought it was probably a 260-pitch, so we were quite happy at half time, but you’ve got to bat a lot better than we did,” she added.

“But the competition has been great and the standard has been fantastic, and it’s exactly what cricket needed.”

Taylor, whose six-wicket haul won her player-of-the-match, said: “That’s the best I’ve ever bowled; I couldn’t have asked for anything better.

“It was a great final, and it could have gone either way.”

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James Mitchinson