Sussex Women finish excellent season with two T20 wins

Sussex Women finished their fantastic season with back-to-back wins in the Vitality T20 League on Sunday, but fell just short of claiming their second piece of silverware in 2018. 

Jimmy Anyon's side knew they had to win both their matches and hope Middlesex slipped up against either Warwickshire or Kent.

Sussex did their bit by beating Worcestershire and Nottinghamshire, but the Division Two champions had to settle for second place as Middlesex held their nerve to win the T20 title.

Nevertheless, it was a brilliant way to finish the campaign, on a day when spinners shone and captain Georgia Adams led by example at Welbeck CC. 

In the first match of the day, Adams won the toss and opted to bat against Nottinghamshire, with her and Paige Scholfield opening on a sweltering day in Mansfield. 

At the end of the powerplay, Sussex were 35-1 with Scholfield well caught off the bowling of Lucy Higham, and after some assured stroke play, Adams was run out for 16 to leave the side 36-2 off the first six overs.

Nancy Harman and Abigail Freeborn accelerated the innings well, scoring 18 and 21 respectively, with seven boundaries between the pair taking Sussex to 81-5 off 16 overs, before Harman was well bowled by Jodie Dibble and Megan Burton caught Freeborn.

With four overs remaining, Tara Norris (26*) and Ellie McCaughan (18*) added a flurry of quickfire runs, including seven fours, to see Sussex complete their 20 overs 120-6. 

Needing 121 to win, and with the knowledge a victory would secure their safety in Division One of the Vitality T20 League, Nottinghamshire were keen to get their chase off to a flying start but Green gave Sussex a huge boost early on, dismissing Sonia Odedra for three. 

After the powerplay, Notts had moved onto 27-1, but were still behind the required run rate when Dibble was stumped by Freeborn off Beth Harvey's bowling. 

Two overs later, the dangerous Georgie Boyce fell as Harvey grabbed her second wicket, and then a great catch from Adams gave Harman her third wicket to dismiss Teresa Graves and leave Notts 67-4 off 12 overs. 

Adams and Harman combined again soon after, this time the captain taking her first wicket of the day as Higham went for 23, to leave Notts requiring 38 off their last five overs, with five wickets in hand. 

However, Sussex's spinners showed no signs of slowing down, with Adams taking a further two wickets as Nottinghamshire were all out of 106, and Sussex secured their first win of the day. 

After the Sussex spinners took every wicket in the first match, the likes of Green and Adams showed their quality with the ball again in the second match against Worcestershire.

Having won the toss, Worcestershire opted to bat and started their innings promisingly, but Adams caught opener Lauren Rowles off Green's bowling to leave the Pears 23-1 after the powerplay.

Green struck again in the ninth over, with Scholfield taking the catch as Sarah Glenn was out for eight, but Worcestershire's Chloe Hill remained a constant threat throughout, leading her side to 77-3 before the next wicket fell. 

Adams was the one who made the breakthrough, with Issy Wong out for 14, as Worcestshire finished their innings on 124-3 with Hill not out for an impressive 52. 

After excelling with the ball, Adams then stepped up in the chase to guide her side to an excellent victory. Her 64*, which included 12 fours, was a real captain's performance. 

Alongside Adams was Scholfield, who was also in great form as she scored 29 before being run out by Hill, before McCaughan came to the crease.

With little trouble, Adams and McCaughan (14*) batted superbly as Sussex closed in on a comfortable nine wicket run, requiring just 13.5 overs to score the necessary 125 runs. 

Scorecards from the two matches can be found HERE.