Topsham St James Ladies made the short journey north into Somerset to face Taunton Deane in the fourth round of the national T20 knockout competition, writes Hannah Clark.

Having progressed through the Devon stages of the competition, a new challenge was ahead with a team that posed an unknown entity to the Devon team.

Losing the toss, Topsham St James batted first and started slowly, losing two quick wickets. Amelia Sydenham and Caitlin Pilcher steadied the ship and began to rebuild the innings with a perfectly timed increase in tempo.

Their 69-run partnership came to an end with Sydenham (26) falling leg before wicket to Taunton Deane’s Harriet Kelly.

With just a few overs left to go, Maddy Ross joined Pilcher at the crease. Pilcher’s maiden half-century for Topsham came off just 61 balls and was the foundation of the Topsham innings recovery.

Some attacking shots combined with hard running in the stifling heat guided Topsham to 130-3, their highest score of the tournament so far.

Taunton Deane’s innings started briskly, with openers Hannah Hughes and Karla Rose finding the boundary easily. Molly Dart made the crucial breakthrough bowling Rose (9) before Katy Donovan (2-9) chipped in next over to remove the number three quickly. Topsham’s change bowlers kept the pressure on Taunton Deane, with tight fielding restricting run scoring opportunities. A middle order collapse, losing five wickets for 11 runs, put Topsham in control.

Wickets continued to fall steadily, with each bowler contributing, before the final wicket fell to Emma Corney (2-10), securing a dominant 64-run victory for Topsham St James.

Topsham St James now progress to play Hursley Park (Hampshire) in the regional final on June 17.