Worcestershire Rapids fell to their second One Day Cup defeat of the season after an underwhelming batting display left the visitors wondering what could have been.
After losing the toss and being asked to bowl first, the away side started brightly as loan-signing Hannah Hardwick made the first breakthrough inside the first 10 overs of the match.
After navigating their way to 62-1, the Steelbacks soon found themselves in trouble as Jess Beach uprooted opener Howarth for 23.
Some effective bowling from Flora Bertwsitle, Phoebe Brett and Samadhi Samarakoon rewarded their side with three more wickets, but Steelbacks’ unbeaten skipper Gemma Marriot held the key.
Jess Beach then entered the fray and displayed all of her quality to rip through the Steelbacks’ lower order and return exceptional figures of 8-0-30-5.
Gemma Marriot’s unbeaten 51 underpinned the Steelbacks innings, and set the visitors 161 to win.
In spite of some valiant efforts in the field, the Rapids failed to ever get going. Partnerships proved hard to come by and after falling to 21-4, the visitors were always second favourites.
Sophie Beech provided some resistance with a gritty 20, but after she was clean bowled, the remaining 5 wickets fell for just 32 runs as the Rapids succumbed to a 79 run defeat.
The Rapids now sit fourth in the table, being leapfrogged by their opponents in the process, with their next chance to avenge the defeat coming in the Vitality Blast on June 8th, where the Rapids host Derbyshire Women at Visit Worcestershire New Road.
