Lucy and Sarah star in Super 8s win

Rainhill begin 2023 with home victory over Sefton Park

Lucy Strettle (left) took 5-8 and Sarah Curlett (right) hit an unbeaten 25 as Rainhill won their opening match.

Sefton Park 79-7 - net score 244 (Ellen Speed 15, Liz Killick 13*; Lucy Strettle 5-8) Rainhill 105-5 - net score 280 (Sarah Curlett 25*, Anita Hanson 17; Chloe Marshall 2-16) Rainhill (3 pts) beat Sefton Park by 36 runs Scorecard

Rainhill's Women's Super 8s team started off the new season with a win over Sefton Park. Having won the toss, Rainhill put the visitors in to bat. Sefton Park got off to a good start with the opening pairing of Priyanka Hariharan and Ellie Thornton adding seven without loss of wickets, after which the second partnership of Rachel Biggs and captain Liz Killick accelerated the run rate - putting on 20 in the next four overs. The introduction of Lucy Strettle into the attack swung the momentum back in Rainhill's favour and Sefton Park's third pair - Gail Thornton and Ellen Speed - scored 25 runs but also lost five wickets (five runs per wicket are deducted from the net score). The visitor's final pair played positively and, in spite of losing wickets, were able to take the net score to 244. Lucy took five wickets in her three overs for just eight runs - a stunning performance. There were also wickets for Katie Roberts (1-8) and Jayne Curlett (1-11).

Rainhill will have been pleased at restricting Sefton Park to a total net score of 244, but such scores have won matches in the past so there was no room for complacency. Rainhill's opening duo of Katie Roberts and Anita Hanson hit an impressive 29 runs in four overs, but also had the misfortune of losing five wickets so it was not the ideal start. However, no further wickets were lost and with each of the final three pairings contributing runs Rainhill finished on 105 for 5 - the net score of 280 gave them victory by a margin of 36 runs. Sarah Curlett was particularly impressive, playing some accomplished strokes in an unbeaten knock of 25 from just 15 balls. Sue Lowrie also chipped in with a useful contribution of 12. The result was the perfect start for Rainhill, whose next match is at Irby on 11th May.