Hampshire beat Essex in Women's T20 Blast

Hampshire beat Essex in Women's T20 BlastImage source, ShutterstockImage caption, Essex fell short in their run-chase despite an unbeaten 57 by Jodi GrewcockPublished4 hours ago3 CommentsHampshire Hawks' spinners shared figures of 5-74 to strangle Essex and secure a first Women's T20 Blast victory of the season.Bex Tyson, Georgia Adams and Amanda-Jade Wellington's 12 combined overs went at barely a run a ball as the Hawks defended a score of 160-7.Kate Coppack's exceptional 4-18 had kept the home side to around par, as Naomi Dattani top scored with 31.But despite the newly capped England all-rounder Jodi Grewcock hitting a half-century, Essex fell short by 23 runs.Match scorecardT20 Blast group tableOn three occasions during the Hampshire innings, Coppack throttled the Hawks – who had chosen to bat first – with unrelentingly accurate bowling.Firstly, in the powerplay, where her two overs went for nine runs, with the added bonus of having Georgia Adams caught at mid-wicket. Her third over saw her bowl Francesca Sweet – who had looked dangerous with a quickfire 20 – and only went for four runs.And her final return, in the penultimate over of the innings, ended Hampshire's most fruitful partnership – 45 from 28 balls between Rhianna Southby and Nancy Harman as Coppack dismissed both of them in the over.Despite that, Hampshire built a solid score, with every batter getting a start and plenty of partnerships formed, but none kicking on to help set an imposing total.Amanda-Jade Wellington and Poppy Tulloch, combining for 21 runs off the final seven balls gave the hosts some momentum.Image source, ShutterstockImage caption, Essex's Kate Coppack is also an employment lawyerEssex had scored 76 runs in the powerplay in their win over Warwickshire Bears on Friday night but had the opposite experience when they could only muster 28 this time.That was largely down to Dattani dismissing both Eagles openers, who were caught in the fourth over.But...