Durham Women lost their opening Division 2 fixtures in the ECB County Championship to Devon and Somerset away.
Result: Devon (101-7) beat Durham (97 all out) by 3 wickets on Sunday, 5 May and Somerset (269-6) win against Durham (103 all out) by 166 runs on Monday, 6 May.
Durham were bowled out on both occasions for a bumpy start of their campaign. Away to Devon, Becca Silk was imperious with the ball to take out four of our batters and restrict the side to 97 only.
Somerset also proved a difficult opposition after setting a challenging target of 269, with Nicole Richards falling 1 short of a century.
Durham’s side, having only earned promotion to Division 2 at the end of last season, travelled to Heathcoat Cricket Club for an opening game against Devon – a side, that finished mid-table in the division last year.
Durham, inserted in the middle, lost opening batter Layla Tipton, who fell to a duck, in only the second over. Petherick (12) showed attaching intent when hitting the boundary twice before being dismissed by Stephanie Hutchins.
Hutchins then repeated the same when pinning Becky Glen lbw for 12. With 50 runs scored in 22 overs, the visiting side were in need of a surge from the lower order
Devon’s Silk was exceptional with the ball to consequently dismiss four of Durham’s batters and score six maiden overs.
In the second innings, Petherick made the first breakthrough in the third over when Helen Fenby caught Claire Varcoe.
Devon’s opening batter Ellie Mitchell kept resistance to finish on 42 not out from 66 deliveries and despite Laura Ellison’s best efforts, who took two wickets for four, the hosts reached the target within 28.1 overs.
On day two, Durham faced Somerset – a side that got relegated from Division 1 last season.
Somerset won the toss and elected to bat first. The hosts took control of the innings straightaway and didn’t allow for a breakthrough until 108/1 when Rachel Hopkins caught Emma Godman out off Ellison’s ball.
Nicole Richards kept the score moving, hitting 99 not out, and despite wickets from Bailey Wanless and Petherick, Somerset’s middle order maintained the team’s pace. Nat Wraith posted a half-century before getting run out by Hannah Knowles. Knowles later managed the same to dismiss Cassie Coombes but Somerset had already scored over 250 runs.
In the second innings, Durham lost early wickets and never managed to pick up the pace. Richards took three for seven – she pinned Ellison and Hayley Falla lbw and sealed the win when dismissing Mary Butler to bowl Durham all out in 36.5 overs.