Northamptonshire Steelbacks Women return to T20 action tomorrow in the Women’s T20 County Cup Quarter-Final as they face Tier 1 Essex at the cinch County Ground.
The Steelbacks are the sole remaining representative from Tier Two in the competition after an impressive competition so far.
Victory in the quarter-final would see the Steelbacks participate in the T20 County Cup Finals Day at Emirates Old Trafford, which will take place on Saturday 29th August.
Several members of the side had some good T20 preparation on Thursday as they faced Bucks Women in a one-off friendly. The Steelbacks won by 55 runs and the game came as a good opportunity to switch back into T20 mode after a successful One Day campaign.
Match Information:
Gates at the cinch County Ground are open from 1pm tomorrow, with the toss scheduled at 1:30pm, and play set to start at 2pm.
It’s free entry for all this Sunday, so make sure to come and support the Steelbacks Women in their quest for a spot at Finals Day.
There will also be a live stream on Steelbacks TV, and you can follow all the action with live match updates on our social media channels.
Concessions:
Nuts For Your Coffee & Burger Boulevard
The Long Room will also be open, and will be serving pasties, sausage rolls & pies.
Squad news:
The Steelbacks have a 14-player squad for tomorrow’s fixture. The side are at full strength with a number of key players returning.
Steelbacks Women squad to face Essex Women:
Gemma Marriott (c), Beth Ascott, Emily Carpenter, Ava Clive, May Drinkell, Emma Gibbs, Chloe Hill, Amelia Kemp, Anisha Patel, Ella Phillips, Alicia Presland, Mabel Reid, Liz Russell, Lenny Sims
Journey to the Quarter-Final:
To get to this stage of the competition David Ripley’s side have played three rounds throughout the season.
Back in April, Herefordshire were restricted to 97 by the Steelbacks and that total was achieved by 13 overs with Amelia Kemp scoring 54 not out from 42 balls.
Round Two saw Bedfordshire & Huntingdonshire travel to Desborough and they suffered a similar fate as they only managed 56 which was knocked off in 8.3 overs.
The only all Tier Two clash in Round Three saw the Steelbacks up against Derbyshire Falcons at The Copper Yard.
Top scores of 49 from Amelia Kemp and 47 not out from May Drinkell guided Ripley’s side to a score of 195 for four.
Early wickets from Mabel Reid and Ella Phillips meant the Falcons couldn’t build any momentum and they fell 75 runs short.
Opposition Preview:
Essex only played one game to reach this point in the competition as they beat Gloucestershire by 61 runs at Castle Park in June.
In the T20 Blast, Essex finished in fifth place and just missed out on a spot in Finals Day at The Oval.
Despite playing a few less games than everyone that made the final, Grace Scrivens remained as top scorer for the whole competition with 428 runs at an average of 47.55.
The threat with the ball comes in the form of seamer Eva Gray, who took 17 wickets at an average of 18.05 in 11 games.