| Charlotte Edwards Cup, Headingley |
| Northern Diamonds 218-3 (20 overs): Winfield-Hill 98, Armitage 74; Filer 1-30 |
| Western Storm 186-8 (20 overs): Gibson 52; Levick 2-25, Scott 2-27 |
| Northern Diamonds won by 32 runs |
| Match scorecard |
Lauren Winfield-Hill’s swashbuckling 98 helped Northern Diamonds post a record Charlotte Edwards Cup total in a crushing 32-run win over Western Storm.
The England batter hit 21 fours in her 56-ball innings at Headingley, while captain Hollie Armitage added 74.
Diamonds’ total of 218-3 dwarfed the previous best of 183-9, set by South East Stars in 2022.
Storm lost wickets with regularity in an aggressive chase, and fell short despite 52 from opener Danielle Gibson.
Having been beaten finalists in 2021, Diamonds failed to reach Finals Day last year – and they have targeted this competition to add to their 2022 Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy win.
On the evidence of this opening performance they have a chance to take the crown.
A quickfire start saw wicketkeeper-batter Winfield-Hill smash 21 runs off the opening two overs and she reached her half-century from just 30 deliveries.
She continued her onslaught but was caught at deep mid-wicket off Chloe Skelton two short of a remarkable century.
Just as effective was Armitage, who smashed six sixes in a brutal 36-ball 74, taking Diamonds 35 runs clear of the competition’s previous best total.
Storm, boosted by the return from injury of talismanic captain Sophie Luff, played as if they had nothing to lose in chasing down the mammoth total.
However, the game was lost when Danielle Gibson fell for an impressive half-century off 30 balls, to leave the visitors 121-5.
Despite solid contributions from Alex Griffiths (31) and Lauren Filer (21), two wickets each for Lizzie Scott and Katie Levick, plus two more on debut for Grace Hall, meant Storm could not keep up with the run-rate, allowing the hosts to start this year’s T20 competition with a statement win.
