The sun may have set on women’s regional cricket, but Sunrisers pulled a fairytale win out of the bag at the last, beating South East Stars by 27 runs on DLS, after lightning and torrential rain forced a premature end to the match.
Sunrisers spent three seasons struggling in the competition and failed to win a game in 2021 and 2022, but finally lifted the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy in Leicester.
Their captain, Grace Scrivens, described it as “a hell of a journey”. “It’s been mad, but we’ve loved the journey we’ve been on,” she said. “It’s been about sticking with players, giving them belief and trusting in them.”
The rain fell at a fortuitous moment for the Sunrisers, shortly after off-spinner Kalea Moore took two wickets in the space of four overs – Cordelia Griffith driving into the hands of extra cover, and Jodi Grewcock bunting a return catch – to leave them 121 for three with 92 still needed.
But a sweetly-struck half-century from Griffith and a sensible unbeaten 39 from Scrivens ensured they were already well ahead of the DLS par when the weather intervened, 25 overs into their chase. Loud whoops could be heard from their dressing room as the umpires informed them of the result.
Griffith said: “We were the underdogs, but we’re a team of fighters, and all the hard work has paid off over the years. Through those tough times we really stuck together as a group. To come out on top is such a special feeling.”
The match marked the end of five seasons of regional cricket, which is being ditched partly due to consistently poor crowds. Only 200 people were present to witness a very soggy end to an era.
Conscious of the weather forecast, Scrivens had chosen to bowl first, running the risk of Stars – who have one of the most powerful batting line-ups in the domestic game – racking up an enormous total.
But her bowlers rose to the occasion: Kate Coppack took career-best figures of four for 27, reducing Stars to 21 for three in the first six overs.
Alice Davidson-Richards followed up her match-winning 90 in the semi-final with 93 runs on Saturday, finishing as the competition’s leading run-scorer with a tally of 650.
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But she was trapped leg-before by Mady Villiers seven runs short of her century, as Sunrisers bowled Stars out for 212 in 46.2 overs.
Away from cricket, the 30-year-old Coppack is an employment lawyer; on Saturday she handed notice to Alexa Stonehouse and Paige Scholfield within the space of three balls, bowling Scholfield with a hooping inswinger, before returning for a second spell to have the dangerous-looking Kira Chathli adjudged lbw.
She was also instrumental in the run-out of Bryony Smith, diving to remove the bails after the Stars skipper wandered down the pitch and was sent back by Davidson-Richards.
Sunrisers faced the prospect of a nervous chase, but Griffith calmly continued the recent purple patch during which she has struck four half-centuries in her past five matches, as Sunrisers – who will morph into Essex next season – concluded their five-year lifespan with a day to remember.
