Fourth-placed Middlesex travel to Newport Cricket Club to play bottom of the table Wales and third-placed Lancashire in the second round of T20s on Sunday.
Middlesex have a choice of opening bats in Amara Carr, Naomi Dattani and Cordelia Griffith. Last weekend Carr and Griffith opened in Dattani’s absence and enjoyed a 53-run partnership against Hampshire. Carr struck 31 off 48 and Griffith 22 off 17 following an impressive 57 off 48 against Sussex in the opening game. Sophia Dunkley will likely come in at three as she continues to push for an England spot and will also play a vital role with ball in hand and picked up 3-10 with her leggies against Hampshire. Opening quicks Lauren Bell and Katie Wolfe will be looking to pick up early wickets and deliver economical overs as they did against Sussex, claiming 2-18 and 3-16 respectively. Off-spinners Emma Albery and Bhavika Gajipra and leg-spinner Emily Thorpe add three other spin options Dattani can call on.
Wales will be looking for opening batters Rachel Priest and Gabby Basketter to fire once more. Priest enjoyed an explosive innings of 29 off just 12 balls with four fours and a six against Surrey, while Basketter struck 55 off 40 with seven fours and a six against Birmingham Bears and 46 off 29 against Surrey which included five fours and three sixes. With ball in hand Basketter will look to get through her overs of off-spin quickly while adding to her season-haul of nine wickets. Fellow allrounder Alexandra Griffiths also enjoy success with ball against Birmingham claiming 3-20 from her four overs but the hosts will be hoping the opening duo of Claire Nicholas and Ffion Wynne can claim early wickets.
Lancashire will likely have England and former Middlesex player Alex Hartley on hand to tie up an end with her left-arm spin which has proven such a success on the international stage. Seamer Laura Jackson will also play an important role in their attack and will be confident heading into the fixture after claiming 3-9 against Kent last weekend. With the bat England Academy player Georgie Boyce will be looking to continue her strong form for her new county, this season she has hit 265 runs at 37.86. Ellie Threlkeld, Emma Lamb and skipper Eve Jones are three other important batters for the Red Rose. Threlkeld has also been effective behind the stumps and three stumping against Kent so Middlesex batters will need to make sure they use their feet to get to the pitch of the ball if advancing towards a spinner to ensure they connect and aren’t stumped.
Middlesex face Wales first at 10:30am, followed by Lancashire at 1:30pm.
Contributed by Georgia Isaac, Middlesex Women’s Media Assistant
Middlesex squad
Naomi Dattani
Emma Albery
Lauren Bell
Amara Carr
Sophia Dunkley
Bhavika Gajipra
Cordelia Griffith
Gayatri Gole
Beth Morgan
Sonali Patel
Olivia Rae
Emily Thorpe
Katie Wolfe
Cricket Wales Womens 1st XI
Middlesex Women 1st XI
