Surrey made it two wins from two matches as they geared up their Women’s T20 Blast title defence with a comfortable four-wicket victory over Yorkshire, while Somerset beat Warwickshire Bears and Durham beat Hampshire Hawks.
Fresh from an opening-round win on Friday afternoon over Lancashire, Surrey waltzed to victory at Headingley, chasing down their hosts’ underpowered 133 in 15.3 overs.
The Yorkshire total never looked likely to contain the combined batting power of Surrey despite a strong start from the White Rose, with Erin Thomas (with a 29-ball 42) and Lauren Winfield-Hill (23 from 16 balls) getting them off to 60-0.
Surrey’s Kalea Moore (3-21) and Ryana MacDonald-Gay (3-29) ensured only Sterre Kallis, with 18, made it into double figures, as Yorkshire were all out on the final ball of the 20 overs.
Somerset went second in the table, improving on their opening-day tie against Hampshire, with a seven-wicket win over last season’s finalists Warwickshire.
The Bears won the toss and elected to bat, setting a decent total of 166-9, with Meg Austin top-scoring with 41.
Despite the loss of Rebecca Odgers in the third over, Somerset’s reply gathered momentum, which proved impossible for Warwickshire’s bowlers to halt.
Skipper Sophie Luff (58 from 33 balls) and Anika Learoyd (60 from 49 balls) shared an 84-run partnership for the second wicket, with the latter steering home the chase with 10 balls to spare.
Warwickshire, who lost last year’s inaugural final against Surrey by five wickets, have started with two defeats and sit bottom of the table.
In contrast, Durham started their campaign with a 32-run victory over Hampshire at the Riverside in Chester-le-Street.
Captain Hollie Armitage posted a top score of 64 from 49 balls after electing to bat first in bright sunshine. She shared a 52-run partnership with Mady Villiers and 60 with Emily Windsor, who struck 35 from 16 balls to set an imposing 178-5.
Villiers, Katie Levick and Heather Graham all took two wickets apiece as Durham smothered the Hants reply with wickets in each of the final three overs.
