Record breaking Somerset demolish Essex
Somerset openers Bex Odgers and Sophie Luff both hit commanding centuries as their side demolished Essex with 10.3 overs to spare in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup.
Odgers struck an unbeaten 133 from 124 balls, equalling her career-best score, and shared a partnership of 223 with captain Luff (103 from 96) to set up Somerset’s resounding triumph at Chelmsford and strengthen their chances of qualification. The partnership was Somerset’s highest ever List A stand.
Their efforts overshadowed an excellent stand of 169 between Jodi Grewcock (87 from 101) and Sophia Smale, with a career-best 83 from 101, to rescue Essex from 15 for two.
However, Somerset struck back, restricting their hosts to 266 for eight and Essex were further hampered by having to replace injured wicketkeeper Amara Carr – stretchered off after she slipped while attempting a second run late in the innings.
Asked to bat, Essex were quickly under pressure as they lost both openers in quick succession, with Bryony Gillgrass leg before to Ellie Anderson (three for 44) and Grace Scrivens steering to slip as she tried to charge Alex Griffiths.
Grewcock took time to settle, with her first eight deliveries yielding a single, but led her side’s recovery with a string of robust pull shots to the fence whenever Somerset’s bowlers pitched short.
Grewcock advanced to 50 at exactly a run a ball and Smale followed at a more sedate pace, cutting Niamh Holland for four to reach her personal landmark.
However, momentum shifted when spinner Lola Harris (two for 37) had the left-hander taken at midwicket, the first of three batters to depart in 12 balls.
Smale’s hopes of a maiden hundred evaporated as she fell to Jazz Westley and, despite Liberty Heap’s pugnacious 39 from 35, the home side suffered a further blow with the loss of Carr, run out after her foot jarred in the turf.
With injury replacement Ariana Dowse taking the gloves, Essex set off in quest of powerplay wickets – but those failed to materialise as Luff and Odgers zoomed away at around nine an over, peppering the boundaries with regularity.
Fortunate to survive when she edged Sophie Munro to slip on 12, the Somerset skipper took advantage to post a half-century from 42 deliveries, with her partner not far behind.
Odgers was handed two lives soon afterwards, with Dowse failing to gather an edge behind off Grewcock before Smale put down a return catch as Essex rotated their bowling options to no avail.
Luff also won the race to three figures, but Odgers soon overtook her, pulling Esmae MacGregor to the rope to raise her century and bludgeoning the next ball over the top for four more.
The captain finally departed, hammering a Grewcock full toss to long-on and enabling Emma Corney to mark her comeback after 14 months out injured with a brief cameo of 11 before Holland helped Odgers to seal victory.
Following the match, Bex said: “Today was an important one and to chase it in 40 overs and get a bonus point as well was brilliant. With 10 to go, we needed about seven an over and from then we started to kick on.
“I’ve never been part of a first-wicket partnership going on for that long. Sometimes you put the bad ball away, sometimes you don’t and I think today we both did that in the powerplay which gave us a very good start.
“Obviously, I’ve been away from the group for a while in the Hundred, so it was good to get back in with everyone today.
“It’s a quick outfield and obviously the weather’s been dry, so you’re going to get good value for your shots. But once you get a couple of wickets, you can really put pressure on and I think we did that well.
“It’s good to have Emma Corney back. She’s been so good around the group for so long and to see her back out there, running around in the field is amazing. I’m so happy she got a bat as well – it’s so good to have her back.”
