1 week Ago
Hampshire will face Surrey in the first-ever Vitality T20 Women's County Cup. The knockout tournament, featuring 37 teams from England and Wales, is set to unfold over the course of May, beginning on Monday, May 5. Hampshire, along with the other Tier 1 teams, will enter the fray in the third round on Saturday, May 17, where they will meet Surrey.
The competition promises a series of intriguing matchups, with two all-Tier 1 ties ensuring that at least two teams from Tiers 2 or 3 will make it to the quarter-finals. The format of the tournament includes three rounds before a quarter-final stage, culminating in a finals day on Monday, May 26, at the Cooper Associates County Ground in Taunton. This structure offers counties in Tiers 2 and 3 the chance to compete against fully professional Tier 1 sides, adding an element of surprise to the proceedings.
The full draw for the first round on May 5 features Lincolnshire versus Cheshire, Staffordshire against Cumbria, and Yorkshire facing Derbyshire, among others. Northumberland, Leicestershire, and Suffolk have received byes into the second round, which is set for Saturday, May 10. In the second round, Yorkshire or Derbyshire will face Staffordshire or Cumbria, while Leicestershire will compete against the winner of Lincolnshire versus Cheshire.
Other matchups include Shropshire or Norfolk against Northamptonshire or Worcestershire, and Northumberland against Cambridgeshire or Herefordshire. From the third round on May 17, alongside Hampshire versus Surrey, the winner of Devon or Dorset versus Suffolk will play the Birmingham Bears, and the winner of Glamorgan or Gloucestershire versus Sussex or Buckinghamshire will face Lancashire Thunder. Other matches include Somerset versus Durham and the winner of Wiltshire or Oxfordshire versus Hertfordshire or Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire against The Blaze.
The quarter-finals will be played on Saturday, May 24, with the winners of the third-round matches competing for a spot in the finals. The finals day on Monday, May 26, will feature two semi-finals before the final match, determining the first-ever Vitality T20 Women's County Cup champion. This tournament marks the first domestic silverware contest of 2025.
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