The Women's Northern Knights claimed a 164 run victory against the Women's North West Warriors in the second Inter-Provincial 40 over game of the season played at Fox Lodge CC on Sunday 1st August. The Knights exhibited outstanding batting depth and excellent wicket taking ability with the ball to ensure that they have now levelled the series 1-1. 

Having lost the toss the Knights were put in to bat first on a soft pitch due to the week's rainfall. Knowing that batting conditions would be challenging, openers Amy Caulfield and Amy Hunter stepped up to the challenge of batting sensibly but punishing the bad ball. They looked comfortable in doing so until the unfortunate straight drive of Amy Hunter and a deflection onto the stumps at the non-strikers saw Amy Caulfield (22) run out and the opening partnership coming to an end for 71 runs off 14 overs. Amy Hunter continued to bat aggressively and punish any loose bowling, until one big shot too many saw her caught on the deep midwicket boundary for 38 runs in the 17th over. 

Then to add to the wicket loss, we the Warrior's young leg spinner stopped Ali Cowan (8) from settling and the Knights knew they needed to do some serious rebuilding. This saw Cara Murray and Hannah Grieve come to the crease to show just how much batting experience they both had as they rose to the challenge, exhibiting an array of well timed shots and clever rotation of strike from quick singles. The pair reached a 80 runs partnership and looked like they were going to bat out the remaining overs, however this was prevented when Cara Murray was stumped on 41 in the 32nd over.

Hannah Grieve continued to accelerate the score with some seriously big hitting, as she cleared the boundary ropes on both sides of the pitch. She was well supported in the latter part of her innings by Charlotte Lyons who showed an increased confidence in batting against spin and her ability to punish anything short or too full. Hannah (86*)and Charlotte (26*) steered the team to a 252 total after a partnership of 79 runs. 

The Knights took to the field with confidence in knowing that their batters had posted a competitive total for the Warriors to chase. The message was clear; stick to the team's motto "do boring best" and bowl a good line and length. 

This is exactly what opening bowlers Staci Maxwell (3-8 off 5) and Nikki Niblock (0-17 off 5) did to restrict the Warriors and prevent them keeping up with the run rate and build scoreboard pressure. Staci Maxwell claimed the wickets of 3 of the Warriors top order as a result of her late movement of the ball causing all sorts of problems and catches being held by Cara Murray (slip) and Nikki Niblock (midwicket). 

The Knights had the perfect start that they had hoped for with the ball, and it was now the turn of spinners Cara Murray (3-15 off 6) and Jen Hanna (1-12 off 6) to take advantage of the sticky wicket. Both showcasing how much they could get the ball to turn, they managed to pin down the Warriors and the runs dried up quickly and the wickets kept falling. 

After the drinks interval the Warriors were 51-7 and the ball was then given to spinner Tash Morton (2-16 off 4) and medium pacer Emma McMurray (0-17 off 4) to continue building pressure and taking wickets. With the perfect combination of spin from one end and seam from the other the girls managed to dismiss the bottom order. 

After the game captain Amy Caulfield commented "It was a fantastic performance today from the team, with the batters building a series of partnerships throughout the 40 overs to produce an excellent total. The bowlers also did a superb job in bowling good line and length, whilst keeping the stumps in play to take 10 wickets."