Glamorgan Women beat Sussex Sharks in the first-ever women's game under the Daffodil, as the fans at the Home of Welsh Cricket in Sophia Gardens saw history unfold in the iconic stadium.
After rain played spoilsport all morning, the umpires came together after 1PM as the ground staff gave it their all to dry the square and the pitch, and decided that play would commence at 2:30PM in a shortened 25-over game. Sussex Sharks won the toss and chose to bowl first on a green top, but the Glamorgan batters made batting look easy on a cold and humid afternoon. Bea Ellis and Daisy Jeanes walked out to bat for the Welsh county, and were off to a flyer in the powerplay with some aerial shots. However, Sussex bowlers came back in the game after the 6-over powerplay to take three quick wickets as Glamorgan's score read 56-3 after 9 overs.
Stand-in skipper Bethan Gammon and all-rounder Gemma Porter batted out the next few overs and what happened next was nothing short of brilliance. Gammon and Porter took the aggressive route after getting their eyes in, and stitched together a 100-run partnership in no time. Glamorgan finished on 175 in their 25 overs, thanks to Beth Gammon's 72 off just 57 balls. The captain looked busy in the middle, taking the quick double and stealing singles off the fielder's hand to start her innings, before taking the aerial route to the Sussex spinners.
With the ball, the two loanees in Poppy Tulloch and Erin Vukusic took the new ball, and put pressure on the visiting batters with some pace and accuracy. Gemma Porter, the off-spinner, came in at first change to put a pause on the run-scoring, and medium pacer Eve Jackson took advantage of the pressure created by picking up two crucial wickets. Leg-spinner Nicole Reid and medium pacer Daisy Jeanes completed the Glamorgan bowling attack, which not only took wickets but contained runs throughout the innings.
Glamorgan won the match by 53 runs as Head Coach Rachel Priest praised her team's high fielding standards in her post-match interview. Captain Beth Gammon threw her praise for the energy on the field which helped the bowlers take wickets, whilst mentioning the importance of having a good start up top with the bat thanks to Daisy Jeanes. It was an all-round display by the Welsh county, with the captain leading from the front.
Glamorgan play at Newport Cricket Club on Sunday 27 April against Middlesex in their second game of the Metro Bank One-Day Cup League 2, where Rachel Priest's side will look to continue the winning momentum after the short Easter break for the players.