Teenager Perrin stars in Charlotte Edwards Cup
Davina Perrin hits two 50s for England's under-19 team in Sri Lanka in March
- Published
Teenager Davina Perrin hit a dazzling 79 not out off 48 balls as Central Sparks beat Sunrisers by seven wickets in the Charlotte Edwards Cup.
The 17-year-old struck two sixes and 13 fours and shared an unbroken stand of 83 with Courtney Webb as Sparks reached 142-3 with six overs to spare.
Sunrisers - who have not won a game in the competition since June 2021 - earlier made 138-6, with Alice Macleod scoring 54.
Elsewhere, South East Stars beat Western Storm by four runs in a thrilling finish and Lancashire Thunder cruised to an eight-wicket win over Northern Diamonds.
Sparks speed to win over Sunrisers
At Worcester, Sunrisers slumped from 40-0 to 43-3 following opener Jo Gardner's 30 off 25 balls, but Macleod revived their innings by reaching 50 off 34 balls, the first half-century of the 2024 competition.
She shared a stand of exactly 50 with Jodi Grewcock (19) before falling lbw to Emily Arlott (2-23) for 54 from the penultimate ball of their innings.
It looked a competitive total, and Sparks lost Ami Campbell early before spinner Mady Villiers sent back Abbey Freeborn and skipper Eve Jones.
But Sparks were rattling along at above 10 an over, with Perrin determined to go for her shots as she sped to 50 from just 25 balls faced, helped by two fours and a six off successive deliveries from Amu Surenkumar.
It was Webb who finished the job, however, with two fours off Villiers from the final two balls of the 14th over.
Amanda-Jade Wellington bowled well for Western Storm but it was not enough
Wins for Stars and Thunder
Amanda-Jade Wellington took 3-22, helped run out Tash Farrant for one and took a catch as Western Storm restricted South East Stars to 132-9 at Bristol.
Emma Corney made 40 in reply for the home side before being run out by Farrant and when Niamh Holland was caught off Ryana MacDonald-Gay for 32, they were 95-4 in the 16th over.
It came down to Storm needing 10 off the final over and only two had been added when Farrant bowled Alex Griffiths for 19.
Sophie Luff was then run out off the next delivery before Wellington collected a single to leave the home side needing a six to win - but Sophia Smale could only manage one run as Stars took the points.
Northern Diamonds - the runners-up in 2021 - made a bad start at Emirates Old Trafford, losing their first three wickets inside five overs, including Lauren Winfield-Hill, who was caught at mid-on off Kate Cross for two.
But Emma Marlow and Katherine Fraser shared an unbroken stand of 42 to see them to 109-5 at the end of their 20 overs.
Emma Lamb and Georgia Voll got the scoreboard moving for Thunder by adding 38 in four overs before the latter was run out for 19.
It was the final success for the Diamonds as Lamb (44 not out) and Seren Smale added 55 to finish the job with 31 balls remaining - with Smale (30 not out) collecting the winning boundary off Rachel Slater.
Next fixtures
Wednesday
Taunton: Western Storm v Central Sparks (18:30 BST)
Thursday
Trent Bridge: The Blaze v Northern Diamonds (18:30 BST)
Friday
Beckenham: South East Stars v Lancashire Thunder (14:30 BST)
Chelmsford: Sunrisers v Southern Vipers (18:30 BST)