Scrivens, Grewcock star as Essex end losing streak

Jodi Grewcock, an all-rounder, took 3 wickets for 38 runs as Essex beat Yorkshire in a close game at Chelmsford to end their seven-match losing streak in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup.

Grewcock was supported by fellow spinners Sophia Smale (2 for 45) and Abtaha Maqsood (1 for 36), and seamer Esmae MacGregor (2 for 33) only gave up one run in the 48th over to help Essex win the match.

Ami Campbell's ferocious 64 off 49 balls and Sterre Kalis' patient 52 had threatened to put Yorkshire ahead after they restricted the home team to 241 despite Grace Scrivens' 87 off 109.

When front-line seamer Hannah Rainey was forced to withdraw from the attack after delivering consecutive no-balls above waist height, Campbell played a crucial role as a stand-in bowler, taking 3 for 33.

Scrivens and Lissy Macleod won the toss and Scrivens put on her pads. This was Scrivens' last game at Chelmsford before she left the game, and the Essex opener's farewell was brief.

In the second over, Lucy Randle-Bissell caught Macleod behind, but the home team was cruising as Scrivens drove Rainey for three quick boundaries and Grewcock made her debut with a string of potent pull shots.

Before falling to spinner Jess Jonassen (3 for 30), Grewcock (37 from 36) had begun to dominate, outscoring her partner. Campbell leapt at midwicket to claim a superb catch.

Scrivens hit Randle-Bissell to the cover fence for her 50th century, but Smale, who helped the captain score 62, hit a slower ball that bounced to point, and the home team never got back on track.

Campbell picked up where Rainey left off for the remainder of the innings, making Rainey's mandatory withdrawal from the attack in the 35th over a blessing in disguise for Yorkshire. She took the crucial wicket of Scrivens, who drove straight to mid-off as the pressure mounted, and she worked with legspinner Sarah Glenn to stifle Essex's batters in the final stages.

When former Essex loanee Lauren Winfield-Hill missed a return catch for MacGregor, the visitors' chase got off to a rocky start, and Jonassen pulled Amelie Bishop straight to deep square leg.

After the powerplay, Essex employed a double-pronged spin attack with Smale and Maqsood acting as brakes, despite MacGregor's miserable five-over spell of 1 for 9.

Smale's perfect flighted delivery destroyed Erin Thomas, but Kalis remained unperturbed as Campbell launched a counterattack, knocking out MacGregor and Maqsood. The left-hander lifted the tempo further, clubbing three sixes before sweeping a boundary to post 50 and, although Grewcock struck twice in successive overs, Yorkshire still looked on track.

Smale came back to try to get Campbell out of her crease, and Ella Claridge took care of the bails. However, Rebecca Duckworth and Beth Langston went deep with a 40-pitch partnership, and MacGregor and Grewcock won the match.