Pleased with the retraint I showed: Natalie Sciver on her match-winning century

Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Trophy when she struck a match-winning 104 against Lightning in Chester-le-Street to help Northern Diamonds register their second win in the tournament on Monday (August 31).

“It’s not a bad feeling to be the first Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy centurion and the first for the Northern Diamonds,” Sciver told The Yorkshire Post. “It’s a brilliant start for us and hopefully we could be on for the win this year.”

Sciver, who was part of the 24-member England squad who trained in a bio-bubble in Derby, was allocated to the Diamonds along with Katherine Brunt and Lauren Winfield by The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for the first two matches of the competition.

ALSO READ: Day 2 wrap: Rachael Heyhoe Flint trophy

Coming in at 24 for 4, Sciver steadied the innings and took the Diamonds to 226 for 9 before making useful contribution with the ball to restrict Lightning in a close encounter to help Diamonds go to the top of the table in the North group with a nine runs win.

28-year-old Sciver was pleased with herself for the kind of restraint she was able to show even as she found the conditions difficult early on in the innings.

“I was pretty happy with my performance. It was tough going with the bat. It’s not helpful when you’re losing wickets at the other end, and it became quite clear that I needed to bat deep into the innings,” she said.

“I was happy that I was able to show some restraint; at times it was difficult, but we were able to get up to a competitive total in the end.”

Sciver, who has played in 147 internationals for England across formats, will now go back to the England training squad as they prepare to take on West Indies for the five-match T20I series starting on September 21.