Strength and charisma of Pavely see Warwickshire over the line

Warwickshire (336 all out) beat Somerset (302 all out) by 34 runs

A native of Warwickshire once wrote: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.”

This has not been a temperate summer so far for Warwickshire’s cricketers.

They have blown both hot and cold as they hit over 300 last week and lost, whilst they hit 691 runs in their first two games without winning either of them, thanks first of all to Surrey’s formidable batting line-up and secondly to Birmingham’s weather. Their only win has come when they crawled to 160/5 from 40 overs to beat lowly Essex.

Today’s opponents Somerset have been the surprise early leaders of the Metro Bank table. After scraping to a nerve-jangling one wicket win against Yorkshire in the first game of the season, they have gone on to defeat last season’s champions Lancashire by four wickets and then Surrey by a mighty 136 runs.

These latter two victories came courtesy of hugely significant contributions by Heather Knight and Dani Gibson, both of whom are unlikely to feature much more at all for Somerset in 2026. Their absence resulted in a disappointing defeat to Essex last Wednesday, leading many to conclude that the real Somerset had now revealed themselves and the rest of the season is likely to be a struggle for the Taunton-based team.

After winning the toss and batting on a beautiful, clear early-May morning, Warwickshire set about accumulating runs. With a short boundary on the Raglan side of the ground, adjacent to where a new stand and hotel facility are being constructed, there were clearly opportunities for batters to score quick runs if they could pierce the infield.

Davina Perrin is not one to flinch when presented with such an opportunity, so it was no surprise to see her dispatching the ball square of the wicket for five boundaries in the first seven overs, taking Warwickshire to 40/0.

Perrin looked at her majestic best, so confident, sweetly timing the ball and virtually untroubled by the keenly thought-out plans of the opposition. Even as Amu Surenkumar and Katie George gave their wickets away by chipping up the easiest of catches to mid-wicket and Meg Austin made the most reluctant of departures following a contentious lbw decision when trying to sweep Chloe Skelton, Perrin remained at the crease with a swagger that told the spectator that she intended to stay all day. 

It was with great disappointment, therefore, and some degree of surprise, that, having hit nine fours and accumulated 45 impeccable runs, Perrin feathered an edge to Katie Jones from the bowling of Alex Griffiths in the 14^th over. If there is a criticism of Perrin, it is that tiny breaches in her concentration level undermine her when she is set to go really big. As a result, Warwickshire suddenly found themselves in trouble at 76/4.

However, as any follower of the Ursine County will know, if they have one superpower, it is that their batting, just like the fabled guitar amplifier in “This is Spinal Tap”, goes all the way up to 11. 

Enter Charis Pavely, fresh from her innings of 128 from 102 balls against The Blaze on Wednesday.

Today, she provided an innings of 127 from 103 balls. Pavely gives the impression of being an angry cricketer and a ferocious competitor. When she hits the ball hard, it feels personal, like a deep inner frustration is being hammered out cathartically through the velocity of her swipes and drives and hoicks.

One such tracer bullet went straight through the hands of Sophie Luff at mid-off, ending her match prematurely as a concussion substitute was required. As the innings progressed, Warwickshire could not sustain any partnership for more than ten overs, but it did not matter whilst Pavely was there. When Alexa Stonehouse joined her, the two former England under 19 colleagues goaded each other on to more extravagant hitting, adding 93 in ten overs together. 

When Pavely was finally out, Warwickshire were 308/8 with 18 balls remaining. This is exactly the sort of total they have not been able to defend this season, so Stonehouse’s late hitting, to bring her a well-deserved half century and to raise the Warwickshire total to 336 was a much-needed final flourish.

Somerset’s fielding had left a lot to be desired and one can conservatively estimate that 20 extra runs were gifted in the field through sloppy mistakes. Behind the stumps, Katie Jones was excellent and was clearly taking on a leadership role, even before the departure of the stricken Luff. Chloe Skelton was the pick of the bowlers, her right arm off-spin causing Warwickshire problems both at the beginning and the end of their innings and her 4/65 represented a good day’s work for her.

When Somerset came out to bat, they knew that almost seven runs per over would be a big ask for a team not only missing Knight and Gibson, but also now missing Sophie Luff, whose batting slot was being taken by substitute Ruby Davis. However, they went about their business well for the first hour, at times well ahead of The Bears’ equivalent score, but unfortunately trying to keep up with the run rate meant that risks had to be taken, so by the end of the 12^th over they were 77/3 and potentially staring down the barrel of a big defeat.

Somerset’s rescuers from this situation were two of the more unsung heroes of the county game: Niamh Holland and Jess Hazell. Holland’s run-a-ball 65 was a really calm and effective innings, and had she been able to do what Pavely had done and take another 40 balls to double her score, Somerset would have been in with a shout of winning.

Holland’s dismissal, trapped lbw by Pavely in the 28^th over, made the eventual outcome inevitable. Hazell’s more pedestrian strike rate needed to be raised, which resulted her being dismissed in identical fashion to Holland. With over 150 needed from the final 18 overs with five wickets down, Somerset concentrated on taking the match as deep as they could.

Wonderful cameos, first of all by the irrepressible Katie Jones (25 from 22 balls), Alex Griffiths (27 from 29) and most especially Chloe Skelton (51 from 42), took Somerset beyond 300 in the final over, before finally Skelton was caught at mid-on by substitute fielder Millie Taylor.

So, an excellent and deserved win for Warwickshire, but one which also points to failings and weaknesses that need addressing. It turned out that Alexa Stonehouse’s hitting in the final three overs was actually crucial.

Without it, Warwickshire could well have yet again failed to defend over 300. However, on the positive side, Warwickshire were brilliant as ever in the field. The runs they saved and the runs Somerset gave away probably added up to the final winning total. Warwickshire won by 34 runs.