Villiers, Johnson star for Durham as Essex fall short

Durham 291 for 9 (Villiers 76. Armitage 69, Smale 4-51) beat Essex 245 (Harman 72, Miller 56, Johnson 3-28) by 46 runs

Teenage seamer Trudy Johnson wrecked Essex's top-order with a three-wicket burst in the powerplay to set up a third straight Metro Bank One-Day Cup victory for Durham.

The 19-year-old finished with three for 28, including wickets in successive deliveries, to restrict Essex to 245 - 47 short of their target - despite half-centuries by Flo Miller. debutant Nancy Harman, signed on a short-term loan from Hampshire.

Earlier, a century partnership between former Essex all-rounder Mady Villiers, who struck 76 from 70. visiting skipper Hollie Armitage, with 69 from 78, put Durham in control at 199 for two.

Spinner Sophia Smale pegged them back by dismissing both batters in quick succession but. despite losing six wickets for 56, Durham's total of 291 for nine proved to be adequate.

Durham's batters looked comfortable after winning the toss, with the home seamers giving away a surfeit of wides. Mia Rogers particularly strong outside off stump as she cracked a trio of fours off Sophie Munro.

Munro clasped a return catch to remove Emma Marlow, but Armitage was in ruthless mood, thrashing successive Eva Gray deliveries to the cover fence as she. Rogers (39 from 53) added a brisk 66.

Spin duo Smale. Jodi Grewcock briefly stemmed the flow of runs before Villiers upped the pace again, outscoring her partner as she slog-swept the left-armer for six and struck another maximum off Jo Gardner.

But Smale's second spell proved fruitful, with Villiers. Armitage perishing to identical pull shots that flew to midwicket and Heather Graham neatly taken by Gray, back-pedalling at mid-off.

That clutch of wickets effectively ended Durham's hopes of exceeding 300. although Emily Windsor's hard-hitting 27, supplemented by Johnson's unbeaten 18 from 13 in the death overs, got them close.

Essex were soon under pressure in reply. with captain Grace Scrivens registering two off-side boundaries before she was caught behind nibbling at a ball from Johnson that slanted across her.

The Durham quick dismissed Grewcock in the same manner. yorked Smale first ball to leave the home side tottering at 27 for three before Miller (56 from 74) and Ariana Dowse attempted a salvage job.

Dowse adeptly picked out the gaps in the field. reaching 24 only to slap Abi Glen's short ball straight into midwicket's hands and, although Gardner's spirited 34 from 55 built a stand of 59 with Miller, the required rate drifted above eight an over.

Armitage rotated her bowlers shrewdly, with nobody giving much away. Essex endured nine overs without a boundary as Gardner was bowled giving Villiers the charge and Miller was deceived by Grace Thompson's slower ball.

That was the signal for Harman to hit the accelerator, lifting Glen out of the ground en route to a career-best 72 from 60, but she began running out of partners. eventually holed out to long-off to end any lingering Essex hopes.