Hampshire Women End Fine Season With Silverware

Hampshire Women secured promotion to Division One for the first time in their history after a seven-wicket victory against Somerset on 28 August.

They were crowned Champions of Division Two of the Women’s County Championship in the process, after winning six of their seven league games in a remarkable campaign.

They narrowly missed out on promotion in the T20 league, with bad weather ruining any prospect of playing their final two games, but it has been a season to remember for the county.

It started on the front foot back in April, when Charlotte Edwards made her Hampshire debut as they emphatically beat Division One side Middlesex by 140 runs in a pre-season friendly.

This performance set the tone, beginning their Championship season with crushing victories over Wales and Worcestershire, with new overseas signing Suzie Bates smashing back-to-back centuries.

They suffered a minor blip when suffered their only league defeat of the season in May against a strong Surrey side that included internationals Lea Tahuhu and Nat Sciver as well as several players from Kia Super League franchise Surrey Stars.  

Hampshire responded in the best possible way, chasing down 109 with the loss of just wicket against Derbyshire before thrashing Staffordshire by over 100 runs at the end of May.

They switched their attentions to the T20 season in June and carried on their momentum from the 50-over format, with Emily Windsor hitting an unbeaten half-century as they began with wins over Scotland and Derbyshire.

Windsor was again in the runs in the next round of double-headers, nudging another unbeaten fifty, but Hampshire suffered a weekend to forget with defeats to Nottinghamshire and Worcestershire.

Ella Chandler then hit back-to-back half-centuries in a successful day in the middle of July as they bounced back with convincing performances against Essex and Durham.

This left them third in the T20 Division Two table, needing just one win from their final two games to get promoted to Division One, but rain washed out any prospect of play in a double-header against Wales and Staffordshire.

Hampshire put the disappointment behind them, and had a month without any competitive cricket before returning to the 50-over format with two crunch games against Devon and the season finale with Somerset.

Bates had been enjoying a fantastic season in the Kia Super League, scoring almost 250 runs in the initial group stages, and continued her form into domestic cricket, with an unbeaten fifty as they edged past Devon by just eight runs.

This set up a crucial tie with Somerset at Hursley Park, with Hampshire needing a victory to secure promotion up to Division One, where they’ll be competing against the best in the Women’s game.

Two wickets apiece from Southern Vipers duo Katie George and Charlie Dean and a further two run outs saw Somerset dismissed for 140 in the 49^th over of the innings.

In reply, Bates brought up her fifty whilst hitting the winning runs in the process as Hampshire leapfrogged the previously unbeaten Somerset to clinch the Division Two title.

The results round off a fantastic season for Hampshire Women, who’ll be hoping to continue the momentum into the 2018 season, at the start of a new chapter for the County.