Durham Cricket were crowned series winners in their three-match T20 series against the United Arab Emirates Women.
The three-match series were played across grounds in the United Arab Emirates with Durham Cricket coming out on top following the conclusion on the competition on Thursday evening [9 January].
Durham’s representative team of girls, involving talented cricketers from Durham, Northumberland and Cumbria, won two against the UAE Women, with the last game of the series abandoned for rain, to claim the series.
Layla Tipton was namer Player of the Tournament after scoring an unbeaten 63 in the first game of the series and followed up the top performance with four wickets in the second.
The girls’ team of 14 is the first female team that have represented Durham Cricket in competitions in the UAE.
In the first match of the series Durham won by 25 runs at Ajman Oval. Durham lost the toss and were asked to bat posting 137/6 from 20 overs as Layla Tipton led the way with an unbeaten 63 from 55 balls with five fours and one six. Lizzie Scott supported Tipton at the top of the order with 25 from 26 balls. Khushi Sharma (2/27) was the pick of the bowlers for the UAE.
In reply the UAE got off to a positive start as both opening batters, Chaya Mughal and Samira Dharnidharka got the home side off in their pursuit of 138 with some controlled shots on the large outfield of Ajman Oval. Bailey Wanless got the opening breakthrough to dismiss Mughal for 18 from 32 balls, while Jenny McDowell had Dharnidharka bowled for 47, three short of her half century.
Once Durham dismissed both openers, the UAE found the runs hard to come by and with some excellent Durham bowling, Durham claimed the victory by 25 runs and took the lead 1-0 – restricting the UAE to 112/3 from 20 overs.
In the second game of the series – Durham were once again asked to bat first after losing the toss. Two quick fire run outs from Mughal and Lavana Kenny saw Durham struggling in the opening stages of the fixture however Ciara Boaden and Ellie Tiffin were key both scoring 38 apiece for Durham –closing the innings on 106/4 from 20 overs.
Under the lights of Skyline University Ground – Durham found it a different experience with some catches going up in the early overs of the game – however, Durham were on top form with the ball as Lucy Hughes, Layla Tipton and Lizzie Scott struck to claim the wickets of the top three UAE batters.
Durham continued to bowl tight throughout the match as the UAE struggled to get going with the bat – with Layla Tipton proving key to take four wickets for 18 runs to put Durham on top. Lucy Hughes, they wrapped the game up with two wickets and one run out in the final over – as Durham came away with a 14-run win and led the series 2-0.
The final match of the series only lasted eight overs at Skyline University Ground as a heavy rain shower left the outfield too wet to play with the umpires making the decision to abandon play. When play was halted Durham were 47/1 from eight overs with Harriet Robson unbeaten on 17* while Ciara Boaden added a run-a-ball 20 opening the batting.