GLOUCESTERSHIRE Women made the perfect start to their ECB T20 County Championship campaign with two comfortable victories in the South West group double-header against Cornwall at Cheltenham College.
It was a day to remember for several players, particularly off spinner Lily Day who finished with fantastic figures for the day of 6-24 from eight overs while openers Chloe Skelton and skipper Alice Hill were also in fine form with the bat.
Gloucestershire set out their stall from the start, immediately taking control of the first game as Cornwall were pegged back to just 76-6.
Seamers Mollie Robbins (0-9 from three) and Charlotte Phillips (0-10 from four) gave nothing away with the new ball before Lily turned up the pressure another notch with a remarkable spell of 4-4 from her four overs.
A target of 77 never looked enough as Alice (31), Chloe (14) and Mollie (13 not) saw Gloucestershire to the spoils with more than three overs to spare.
That momentum was carried into the second game as Alice and Chloe shared an opening stand of 120. Alice fell for 40 from 52 balls (three fours) while Chloe went on to finish unbeaten on 70 (65 balls, ten fours) in a total of 125-1.
Cornwall, needing a strong start to have any chance of victory, were then pinned back by fine opening spells from Mollie (0-13) and Charlotte (0-11) with the pair’s opening eight overs costing only 25 runs.
Sidra Khan (3-24 from three) and Lily (2-20 from four) then kept the heat on, backed up by Katie Dolman (1-20 from three) and Chloe (1-5 from two) to ensure a second Gloucestershire win with something to spare.
Gloucestershire are next in action on Monday with a double header at Cheltenham College (11am and 3pm) against Oxfordshire who suffered two reverses away to Devon in their opening outings.