Sterre Kalis relieved to finally get in the runs but Northern Diamonds suffer defeat

Sterre Kalis had not had the best of starts to the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.

But the 21-year-old Dutch international came to the fore yesterday, top-scoring with 87 for the Northern Diamonds.

Sadly for Kalis and her colleagues, it was not enough to help them to a victory that would have booked their place in the final at Edgbaston.

Instead, the Diamonds’ first defeat in the six-match group campaign – after they had started their tournament with four successive victories – means that they will have to win their final fixture against Thunder at Headingley on Saturday to be sure of advancing.

Central Sparks, deserved winners here by six wickets with 20 balls to spare, and the only team who can catch them in the North Group, face Lightning at Grace Road in their final match.

Sparks need to win with a run-rate 1.25 times greater than that of Lightning, thereby gaining a bonus point, and hope that leaders Diamonds lose their fixture to draw level with them on points and take the issue down to net run-rate.

Hey-ho, as they say in the Heyhoe Flint Trophy...

Kalis, whose innings underpinned a total of 217, after Diamonds won the toss and chose to bat, felt that she owed her team-mates a sizeable score.

“It was a pretty good feeling to finally get some runs,” she said. “I was just trying to stay positive and keep working hard at the training and stuff, and thankfully it came off today.

“It was a really good batting pitch, and I felt quite confident. It was disappointing to lose, but we’re still really confident going into next week and hopefully we can win and get to the final,” she added.

In hot and sunny weather more redolent of mid-July than mid-September, Kalis played well. She has a lovely free-flowing swing of the bat and the facility to weigh-up length in an instant, either pushing forward to drive or rocking back to hit powerfully square of the wicket.

Anything that begged to be cut or pulled was deftly dispatched, and she faced 115 deliveries, hitting 13 of them to the boundary.

Kalis and opener Rachel Hopkins laid the foundation for the Diamonds with a second-wicket stand of 85 after captain Hollie Armitage was bowled in the seventh over, seemingly deceived in the flight by Elizabeth Russell.

Hopkins grew in stature as her innings progressed, going on to the second-highest score of 35 before being stumped off wrist-spinner Hannah Baker.

Baker bowled well from the Kirkstall Lane end, adding the scalps of Ami Campell, who miscued a full toss to mid-on, and Alex MacDonald, leg-before sweeping across the line for a golden duck.

Baker’s burst sent the Diamonds tumbling from 113-1 to 120-4, and when fellow leg-spinner Anisha Patel bowled Jenny Gunn and trapped Bess Heath, the hosts were 157-6 in the 36th over.

Suddenly, hopes of a total in the region of 250 had to be downsized like a business in the age of coronavirus – considerably so when Russell had Kalis caught at mid-off and Phoebe Graham lbw for a golden duck which left the hosts 185-8.

But Beth Langston’s 26 was timely, and after Helen Fenby had been caught at cover to give the impressive Russell her fourth wicket, Langston was last out to the final ball of the innings, bowled by Emily Arlott.

After Langston trapped Gwenan Davies lbw with the second delivery of the Sparks’ reply, the visitors also benefited from a significant second-wicket partnership, Evelyn Jones, the captain, and Marie Kelly adding 123 inside 26 overs.

MacDonald gave Diamonds hope when she had Kelly lbw one short of her fifty, but Jones had snuffed out realistic hope of a home win by the time she was third out with the total on 171 in the 39th over, caught-and-bowled by leg-spinner Katie Levick for 77 from 114 balls with nine fours.

Langston trapped Milly Home lbw two balls later, but Poppie Davies (31) and Chloe Hill (23) combined in an unbroken stand of 46 to seal the win.

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James Mitchinson