Sunday's double-header ended in success for Middlesex Women who defeated Essex first up, before a low-scoring thriller against Berkshire went the home team's way.
In the first game at Haberdashers' Boys' School, Essex won the toss and elected to bat in weather conditions that fluctuated throughout the day.
After Layla Judge (2/27) set the tone early with two wickets in two balls, Essex recovered through a 50-run partnership between opener Katherine Speed (29) and Matilda Callaghan (26).
The pair moved the score to 63 in the 10th over before Bhavika Gajipra (3/23) entered the attack and bowled a fantastic spell to restrict the Essex batters from upping the run rate.
Gajipra picked up the important wickets of Speed and Callaghan in the middle overs to leave Essex 91/4 with four overs to go.
Sunrisers all-rounder, Amu Surenkumar (25), batted fluently to add impetus and important late runs to the score. The 17-year-old fell in the latter stages of the away side's innings - Gajipra picking up a third wicket to complete a strong display of bowling.
Wicketkeeper-batter, Jessica Olorenshaw, made a quick fire 17 to help Essex to a score of 122/5 from their 20 overs.
The Middlesex batting line up made light work of the run chase however. Saskia Horley (64*) and Issy Routledge (27) made a fast start in response to the target, moving to a 50 partnership in just 34 balls.
Both openers took the attacking approach against the Essex bowlers who struggled to contain the boundaries.
The only wicket to fall in the Middlesex innings was Routledge, who was bowled by Prisha Bedi (1/27) with the score on 56.
Georgia Irving (28*) came to the crease at number three and batted solidly with Horley to move the home side closer to the target.
The pair offered little chances in a partnership worth 68 that saw Middlesex home in the 18th over and win by nine wickets.
Off the back of her first century for the County just last week, Saskia Horley reached a half century in 39 deliveries with six boundaries to top score with 64*.
You can see the full scorecard HERE
The second game of the day saw Middlesex take on Berkshire.
Middlesex captain, Issy Routledge, won the toss and elected to bat, but unlike the previous game, scoring was much harder and the home team found themselves 30/4 at the end of the powerplay.
However, a vital innings of 30 from Sonali Patel, supported by Georgia Irving (17), built a partnership worth 48 which would turn out to be match-winning.
With four overs to go in the Middlesex innings, the batters looked to up the run rate which became an extremely hard task as Shayna Chikhlia (4/16) took important wickets to keep the run rate down and leave Berkshire in a strong position at the half way point of the match.
Patel, Irving and lower order runs from Bhavika Gajipra (16*) helped the home side to 98/9 from 20 overs.
Berkshire would have been feeling confident about their chances of a big victory when Poppy Tulloch (29) and Ariana Dowse (15) put on 36 for the second wicket, moving the away side to 44 in the eighth over, before Anisha Dissanayake (1/11) bowled Tulloch.
The wicket caused a collapse and thanks to tight bowing from Horley (2/9), Routledge (1/12) and Gajipra (1/15), Berkshire slipped to 79/6 in the 17th over, leaving 19 to win with four wickets remaining.
With the game in the balance, Layla Judge (2/5) and Patel (2/17) bowled beautifully to the lower order who struggled to get bat on ball and Middlesex quickly found themselves on top.
The away side required 13 runs to win off the final over, which was a task too much as Patel conceded just two runs and picked up the wickets of Izzy Storrar (12) and Shayna Chikhlia (0) to take Middlesex to an 11-run victory and a second win of the day.
You can see the full scorecard HERE
Congratulations to the team on two brilliant victories as the good form continues.
Middlesex Women 1st XI
Essex Women 1st XI
