Surrey were on the receiving end of a rare five-run penalty handed out under cricket’s Unfair Play law as Warwickshire chased a record women’s List A total at Beckenham in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup.
The incident occurred in the 20th over of Warwickshire’s chase, with the away side 129-3 in pursuit of 313. Having played the ball out to Dani Gregory at point, Davina Perrin was forced to duck as the throw came in, though wicketkeeper Kira Chathli intercepted the ball. The umpires then conferred, and after speaking to Surrey captain Bryony Smith, indicated that five penalty runs were to be awarded to Warwickshire.
The throw was deemed to have fallen foul of Law 42, which deals with unfair play. In particular, the law lists as one of the level two offences, “throwing the ball at a player, umpire or another person in an inappropriate and dangerous manner”, which incurs five penalty runs, and a warning that any further level one offences shall also bring a five-run penalty.
Watch Surrey receive a rare five-run penalty:
Warwickshire pull off record chase
In all likelihood, Warwickshire would have managed to chase their total even without the bonus runs, reaching their target with three wickets and 21 balls in hand. Perrin went on to top score, the highly rated 18-year-old falling for 69, while Bethan Ellis contributed 63 and Natasha Wraith 53. It was a team effort from the Bears, with all of Nos.2-7 reaching double figures.
Similar was true of Surrey, all of whose top six made it to 20. Smith smashed 78 at better than a run a ball, while Sophie Dunkley made an unbeaten 102, the game’s only century. Despite a star-studded squad, Surrey have lost three of their four games. Warwickshire have won two, lost one and tied one.
The chase was the second-highest successful pursuit in the history of women’s List A cricket, and the highest in England. Only Bengal, who chased down 390 against Haryana in 2024, have achieved a higher effort.
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