Essex 235-7 in 32 overs (Gardner 47, Munro 36, Davis 4-35)
Warwickshire 204-8 in 32 overs (Surenkumar 56, Maqsood 3-34, MacGregor 3-38)
Essex won by 27 runs on DLS
Essex finally tasted victory in the Metro Bank Women’s One-Day Cup, seeing off Warwickshire by 27 runs on a wet, grey afternoon at the Edgbaston Community Sports Ground.
Asked to bat first, the visitors rattled up 235 for seven from their reduced 32-over allocation. Jo Gardner’s urgent 47 from 34 balls did the bulk of the lifting, and late blows from Sophie Munro (36 off 19) nudged the total beyond par. Georgia Davis kept Warwickshire in touch with a tidy four for 35, all from clever changes of pace.
“We’ve been scratching around for wins, so getting over the line feels massive,” Gardner admitted. “There was grip in the surface but if you trusted your swing you could score.”
Rain arrived after 12 overs, slicing the match in half and leaving Warwickshire with a DLS chase of 232. The ask always looked steep, yet 18-year-old Amu Surenkumar breezed to a maiden senior fifty, mixing a straight six with five fours in her 56 from 54. Even so, wickets kept falling in clumps, mainly to the contrasting spin of Abtaha Maqsood (3-34) and the skiddy seam of Esmae MacGregor (3-38).
“Just bowled my strengths, bit of flight, see what happens,” Maqsood smiled. “Nice when it comes out right.”
Earlier, Essex’s innings shot out of the blocks as Ariana Dowse and Grace Scrivens put on 67 in a dash. Davis and Phoebe Brett then broke that stand in successive overs, Dowse fencing behind before Scrivens chipped to mid-off. Post-rain rhythm was hard to find: Sophia Smale holed out, Fiona Miller missed a sweep. Yet Gardner and Jodi Grewcock (39 off 34) rebuilt smartly, their 69-run burst lifting Essex from 97 for four to respectability.
Davis struck again, bowling Grewcock and then having Gardner held at long-off, but Munro’s late cameo – four boundaries and a pulled six – proved decisive. “Sophie’s knock turned a good total into a winning one,” Essex head coach Trevor Griffin noted.
Warwickshire’s reply began brightly: Meg Austin and Bethan Ellis rattled 40 in six overs before Maqsood’s drift deceived both, one bowled, one lbw. Nat Wraith then edged Munro to backward point, and the home side never fully recovered.
Surenkumar and Abbey Freeborn added 52 to keep interest alive, only for Freeborn to shuffle across and expose her stumps to MacGregor. When Surenkumar dragged Maqsood to deep mid-wicket the equation read 73 from 44 with a shallow lower order. Issy Wong lofted Munro to fine leg soon after, allowing Essex to coast through the last three overs.
Davis was blunt in defeat: “We let them get 20 too many, then lost clusters. Simple, really.”
For Essex it is just a second win in 12 Cup outings; small consolation in a lean campaign, yet a timely boost ahead of the closing rounds. “We’ll take the momentum and see where it gets us,” MacGregor concluded, ice-pack on knee, grin intact.
