Glamorgan Women cruise to Finals Day spot
Bethan Ellis racked up 67 runs off 55 balls for Glamorgan Women
- Published
Women's Vitality Blast, Cardiff
Gloucestershire 114-5 (20): Willis 28; Shearn 2-27
Glamorgan 117-1 (13.4): Bethan Ellis 67*, Gammon 40*
Glamorgan Women won by 9 wickets
Glamorgan Women sealed a League Two Finals Day place with a match to spare, as they cruised to a nine-wicket victory over Gloucestershire.
Bethan Ellis (67*) and Bethan Gammon (40*) made short work of a target of 115 in the 14th over, taking Glamorgan to their fifth win in six completed games.
It was the first time Glamorgan Women had played a home double-header with the men's team.
Bea Willis top-scored with 28 in Gloucestershire's 114-5, while Anna-Mae Shearn was the most successful bowler with 2-27.
Visiting captain Melissa Story chose to bat and Willis got them off to a decent start, reaching 36-1 in the powerplay.
But Shearn bowled her in the eighth over and Gloucestershire could not accelerate on a pitch with large wide boundaries in place for the men's game, with Georgia Cant's 16 not out the best of a series of cameos.
Spinner Gemma Porter was as usual the most economical home bowler, with 1-16 in the powerplay and death overs.
Captain Lauren Parfitt fell to Charlie Phillips (1-17) in the first over of the Glamorgan reply, but Ellis and Gammon rode their luck and went hard in the powerplay with 20 coming off the sixth over.
Warwickshire loanee Ellis, 25, had most of the strike, bringing up her 50 off 42 balls, but Gammon was equally aggressive as their century stand took just 11 overs.
Ellis belted her ninth four over mid-on to end the contest, while Gammon's runs came off just 26 deliveries to give her an impressive strike-rate.
Glamorgan qualify alongside Middlesex from the South Group for Finals Day at Northampton on Saturday, 26 July.
Post-match reaction
Glamorgan batter Bethan Gammon told BBC Sport Wales:
"Beth (Ellis) and myself had the same mentality of being really positive, and fortunately we knocked the runs off with time to spare which helps us with the run-rate and brings morale to the camp.
"Bethan is as much of a professional as you would expect, very calm and composed and a joy to bat with.
"Our bowlers through the competition have been tremendous, consistently going at low economies and taking wickets throughout."
Coach Rachel Priest added:
"We couldn't ask for much more in our first season, the girls have been outstanding and the hard work in the winter is showing.
"We've still got lots of games to go and we're really looking forward to Finals Day with the girls experiencing something special.
"The crowd (more than 1,000) were outstanding, they were rowdy supporting us and it was nice for us to put on a good show."