Head Coach Ali Maiden is “enjoying watching the team grow and become self-sufficient” as Bears Women look to tighten their grip on the top four with a victory over Essex at Edgbaston.
The Bears have won back-to-back games for the first time in the competition and look to be hitting their best form at the right time.
Their most recent victory came in a comprehensive and complete performance over top-half rivals Hampshire Hawks at Edgbaston on Sunday.
With that victory, the Bears opened up a seven-point gap between themselves and fourth-placed Hawks, with two matches to go against Essex and The Blaze before a 14-day break.
Head Coach, Ali Maiden said, “We were really good with the bat. Starting from the powerplay, Meg and Davina took the game to Hampshire and ran really well.
“That’s one of the things we’ve worked hard on is our running between the wickets, but then on the flipside, stopping other teams running well.
“We were so good in the field. A highlight for me was the work of Davina and Pavely at deep mid-wicket and long-on.
“Hannah Baker as well, all the boundary fielders were excellent in helping us turn the screw.”
The team cohesiveness from the Bears has never looked better, with a host of players contributing wth both bat and ball.
Meg Austin scored her maiden Bears half-century on Sunday and became the fifth different player in seven games to do so.
Millie Taylor is the second-leading wicket-taker in the competition with 10 wickets, and skipper Georgia Davis is third with nine.
With the all-round talents of Charis Pavely and Issy Wong, and the destructive power of Laura Harris, striking at 215.15, the highest in the Blast, the Bears have found their groove.
The Bears have got an opportunity to overturn Essex, one of two teams that have got the better of them in the Vitality Blast this season.
The Bears weren’t at their best in the field in Chelmsford, which was only compounded by a rain delay, which pushed their required total to 159 from 14 overs.
Maiden said, “Essex was an example of where we didn’t put in a Bears performance.
“We stood off the game a bit, and at times didn’t stick together as a team and a unit when it was going against us.
“What we did well was that we came back with the bat in that game and played aggressively.
“This game is an opportunity to put in a better performance against Essex, because we are certainly good enough to beat them.
“I’m hopeful we can play like we have in the last two matches because we’ve been sensational.”
Squad
Georgia Davis (c)Meg AustinHannah BakerBethan EllisAbbey FreebornPhoebe GrahamHannah HardwickLaura HarrisSterre KalisCharis PavelyDavina PerrinAmu SurenkumarMillie TaylorIssy WongNat Wraith
How to follow
Members and supporters can follow the match live in our Match Centre at edgbaston.com, which will include a free-to-watch stream and a live text commentary. You can also see a ball-by-ball feed and watch highlights of all the action. Supporters can get involved by sending their match-day comments and thoughts on X via @WarwickshireCCC and we’ll publish the best ones on our live text commentary in the Match Centre. Supporters can also watch the Live Stream and get instant push notifications of all wickets, innings and match results via the Edgbaston app, which is free to download on iOS and Android. Match updates will also be available across the Club’s social media accounts, simply search for @WarwickshireCCC.
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