Heath's T20 Best Proves Decisive Against Struggling Warwickshire

Bess Heath’s T20 Best

Bess Heath 61 off 39 balls – T20 career best for Durham. First T20 fifty for Durham, came in 33 balls. Key shots: cut, pull, switch hit, sweep vs spin, plus a six over midwicket. Dismissed lbw for 61 trying to switch hit in the 17th over.

Warwickshire have now suffered four successive defeats, slipping with the bat following an impressive bowling and fielding display. They were bowled out for 113 inside 19 overs.

Left-arm new-ball pacer Alexa Stonehouse was superb for her one for 15 from four overs, with three team-mates also striking once as Durham totalled a battling 140 for five including a T20 career-best 61 off 39 balls for Bess Heath. Slumped to 22/2 early after Stonehouse and Taylor removed Armitage and Villiers, Bowled out inside 19 overs chasing 141. Conceded only 33 runs in last 5 overs but couldn’t build pressure with bat.

80-run 3rd wicket stand with Emily Windsor in 11 overs. Windsor: 31, didn’t hit a boundary until the 14th over. Durham were 62/2 at 10 overs, 101/2 by the 14th.

Katie Levick's leg-spin had a sweeping Surenkumar lbw before Bethan Ellis cut Graham to Heath at point. And when Villiers had Brewer caught and bowled, leaving the score 98 for seven at the start of the 16th over, it was all but game over. Seamer Trudy Johnson had Abbey Freeborn caught behind with a hooping in-swinger four balls into Warwickshire's chase, and when Aussie overseas Georgia Redmayne was lbw playing across the line at Villiers' off-spin, the alarm bells started to ring at 15 for two in the fourth over.

Heath was then trapped lbw trying to switch hit against the left-arm spin of Pavely - 117 for four in the 17th - and that came amidst an impressive end from Warwickshire, who conceded only 33 runs from the last five overs.

Bottom line: Bess Heath’s 61 off 39 – her T20 best – powered Durham to 140/5, and it proved too much for a Warwickshire side that collapsed to 113 all out for their 4th loss in a row.