A match of ups and downs for Middlesex and Wales, highlighted by the all round brilliance of Sophia Dunkley, ended in a tie as the hosts sought to chase down 164 at Pontarddulais Cricket Club in Swansea.
Middlesex won the toss and opted to bat with new opening pair Naomi Dattani and Cordelia Griffith striding to the crease. Wales opened with Ffion Wynne and Sara Jenkins who bowled tight lines and applied pressure from both ends as Middlesex struggled to score. Griffith was dismissed for a single, caught
by Alexandra Griffiths off Wynne, and was quickly followed back to the pavilion by Dattani, caught behind off Wynne, for nought.
Some stability was restored, as Dunkley was joined by vice-captain Natasha Miles with the scoreboard reading 10-2. They added 34 before Miles was trapped lbw by Griffiths for 12. Beth Morgan came in next but could add only a single, was caught off Seren Hughes to leave Middlesex in real trouble at 51-4 with Dunkley on 29. Emma Albery added five runs before she was run out by Naomi Davies, and just two runs later Olivia Rae was trapped lbw by off-spinner Gabby Basketter for nought as Middlesex were reduced to 72-6. Dunkley continued to play positively, and was well supported by the lower-order giving her the strike. Dunkley reached her hundred off 120 balls in the 46th over, before Katie Wolfe was bowled by Basketter for a single which brought an impressive 45-run partnership to an end, leaving Dunkley on 114 and Middlesex all out for 163.
Wales opened with the attacking duo of Rachel Priest and Basketter who made the most of any loose deliveries and were 42-0 after eight. Dunkley again proved the key, getting the breakthrough as Basketter was caught for a run-a-ball 17 in the ninth over, a wicket-maiden. Priest continued to look dangerous, threatening to take the game away from the visitors, but she had to depart in the 15th over as she hit one back to Dunkley for 43 off 59, with the score on 75. At this point Wales needed just 89 runs to win at 2.54 an over but Middlesex continued to persevere with spin drying up the runs.
Off-spinners Albery and Bhavika Gajipra bowled well in tandem as the hosts struggled.
Dunkley returned to deliver the 29th as Middlesex used a successful combination of leg-spin and pace from Sonali Patel to keep Wales on the backfoot. Patel got the breakthrough, bowling Hughes for 17 and went on to bowl a wicket maiden, leaving Wales 115-3 after 36. The young seamer struck again
in the 40th as Lauren Parfitt was caught for 16 with the score on 120.
Opener Katie Wolfe returned and enjoyed immediate success, bowling Danielle Gibson with her first ball, and leaving Wales requiring 43 from the last ten overs. Albery returned and continued to bowl tightly as did seamer Wolfe, who claimed the wicket of Griffiths for five as Wales were 128-6 after 45
overs. A run out by Gayatri Gole in the 48th saw the hosts reduced to 147-7. The eighth wicket was another run out. Wales required 11 off the final over, and then three off the last ball but had to settle for two to tie a dramatic match.
Patel was the pick of the Middlesex bowlers, returning figures of 7-4-11-2, while fellow seamer Wolfe took 8-1-36-2 and Dunkley 10-3-15-2.
Cricket Wales Womens 1st XI
Middlesex Women 1st XI
