Durham close their opening professional women’s season with a Duckworth-Lewis defeat to Surrey at Banks Homes Riverside.
A fine career best 68 off 63 balls from teenager Jemima Spence in only her second senior innings of 2025 featured as Surrey confirmed their Metro Bank One-Day Cup semi-final place at the expense of Durham.
Surrey sealed a fourth-placed finish – a position they held at the start of the day with a three-point advantage – and prevented either Durham or fellow chasers Somerset from leapfrogging them, winning by 86 runs DLS.
Nineteen-year-old Spence shared a 112 partnership for the fifth wicket with England’s Alice Davidson-Richards, who also contributed an unbeaten 65 off 61 to Surrey’s commanding 290 for seven from 48 overs.
The third rain delay came with Durham 14 for one in the third over chasing a revised 276 in 41. The target was further revised to an overall 225 in 29, and the hosts were bowled out for 138 inside 23 overs. Davidson-Richards added two wickets with her seam.
A Durham win would have given them a good chance, though a big Somerset success over the Bears left them needing a bonus point win at the start of their chase. They finished sixth in the table.
Having been inserted, Surrey started impressively as Alice Monaghan shared in first and second-wicket partnerships of 55 and 69 with Bryony Smith and Emma Jones.
Monaghan and Jones both played nicely for 45 and 47 – the latter particularly so as she latched onto anything short and hit a couple of eye-catching boundaries down the ground.
At 121 for one in the 22nd over, Surrey looked set to dominate. But Durham took three cheap wickets, reducing the score to 149 for four in the 27th.
Scotland off-spinner Katherine Fraser had Monaghan caught at long-on with a full toss and a pulling Jones bowled off her thigh.
Rain briefly interrupted play at 180 for four in the 33rd over, with Spence and Davidson-Richards now set. And upon the resumption, they kicked on superbly, sharing their century stand in 18 overs.
While Davidson-Richards was classy, Spence mixed power with invention and was first to her fifty off 56 balls. Her more experienced partner followed her there off 55.
Durham were disrupted by having to change wicketkeepers because of a finger problem for Bess Heath. Mia Rogers took over. They also lost key seamer Phoebe Turner to a groin injury having only bowled three overs. She slipped in the outfield.
Rain returned to cut short the Surrey innings at 1.55pm.
When play resumed at 3.15pm, chasing that 276 in 41 overs, Durham would have been aware that Somerset had won with a bonus point. So they had to do the same given the counties started the day level on points.
Rogers pulled Phoebe Franklin’s seam to midwicket in the first over before rain intervened again at 14 for one in the third.
Durham had approximately 20 overs in which to achieve their target for the bonus point, and they started in solid fashion when needing to be spectacular.
Captain Emma Marlow and Hollie Armitage shared 53 for the second wicket.
But when both fell inside three overs for 27 and 31 – bowled by Kalea Moore’s off-spin and caught behind off Alexa Stonehouse’s seam – Durham were 85 for three in the 14th over and out of contention.
Stonehouse struck again as the end came quickly, with Davidson-Richards bowling Bess Heath and Trudy Johnson. Leg-spinner Dani Gregory struck three times. Injured Phoebe Turner didn’t bat.