Hawks continue unbeaten start, Essex beat Bears

Ella McCaughan hit a second successive half-century to help Hampshire Hawks beat Lancashire Thunder

Hampshire Hawks maintained their unbeaten start to the season in the Women's T20 Blast - but Warwickshire Bears had theirs ended by Essex.

Ella McCaughan top scored with a career-best unbeaten 68 to help Hampshire chase down 123 and secure an eight-wicket win over Lancashire Thunder at Old Trafford.

Essex produced an excellent batting display to beat the Bears by 19 runs on the DLS method in a game reduced to 14 overs a side due to rain at Chelmsford.

The result moves Essex top of the standings with Hampshire in second.

Lancashire Thunder were put into bat by Hampshire as Bex Tyson took a season's best 3-27 to help limit the hosts to 122-8.

In a stuttering innings that never really got going for Lancashire, Ailsa Lister came in with the score at 64-4 after 13.3 overs and smashed an impressive 37 not out off 20 balls to give the Thunder hope.

Lister crashed a huge six over mid-wicket off Freya Davies in the penultimate over before repeating the trick off Charli Knott in the final over - Lancashire's only two maximums of the innings.

In reply, Hampshire raced along to 30 inside the opening three overs before opener Maia Bouchier top edged from Grace Potts over wicketkeeper Ellie Threlkeld and was caught by Sophie Morris for 12.

But it did not destabilise the run chase as Bouchier's opening partner McCaughan carried her bat to lead the Hawks over the line with six balls to spare, hitting eight fours as she recorded her second half-century in successive T20 games.

Knott contributed 21 from 28 balls but was dismissed by Darcey Carter after a well-taken catch by Grace Johnson at mid-off as Lancashire fought hard in the field.

Skipper Georgia Adams produced a steady display, contributing 23 and knocking off the winning runs as Hampshire picked up their second victory of the campaign to move up to second in the T20 table.

Essex, and captain Grace Scrivens in particular, got off to a flying start and moved on to 55 inside the opening six overs of their match with the Bears.

That was until Scrivens came down the track to Charis Pavely but misjudged the delivery and was stumped by wicketkeeper Abbey Freeborn for 36 off 23 balls.

It was to be the last action for 80 minutes as rain halted proceedings and when play finally resumed, the game was reduced to a 14-over match.

The delay did little to dampen the approach by Essex's batters as Maddie Penna hit an explosive 27 from 12 balls before being caught on the boundary.

Lissy Macleod smashed 44 off 24 balls and was run out off the last ball of an innings in which opener Lauren Winfield-Hill contributed a useful 21, as did Cordelia Griffith who was unbeaten on 18.

Sterre Kalis hammered 52 in 25 balls in the chase for the Bears, but Esmae MacGregor (3-32) and Sophia Smale (2-13) helped restrict the visitors to 139-8.

Essex's second T20 win of the season sees them climb to the summit, albeit having played one game more than four teams and two more than Surrey.