Image: Luke Stafford, Sports Shots

Bucks Women move into the top half of the table with a brilliant 42-run victory over Berkshire on Sunday in the Metro Bank One Day Cup.

Bucks lost the toss and were asked to bat first, with Molly Carter and Annie Townsend getting their side off to a solid start. The opening pair reached 33 without loss after the first 10 overs.

The runs continued to flow until Townsend was dismissed for 25, with Carter keeping the scoreboard ticking alongside Afra Rose Mohamed.

Carter was next to fall for 21, bringing Cara Duggan to the crease, who immediately got her innings underway with a boundary.

Duggan and Mohamed put together a promising partnership, with Mohamed scoring 35 and Duggan adding 20, before two wickets in two overs left Bucks at 115/4 with 19 overs remaining.

After Tilly Fellows was stumped for 13, Carys Gerber and Tegan Stockdale really kicked on, putting together a 53-run partnership to take Bucks to 185.

With just three overs remaining, a handy cameo from Charlie Mailey, who scored 12, took Bucks beyond 200 as they finished their innings on 209/9.

Berkshire's run chase got off to the worst possible start, with Mailey and debutant Layla Judge both claiming wickets in their opening overs to leave the hosts 8/2 inside the first two overs.

Despite the early setbacks, Finty Trussler and Ashneet Chahal were unfazed, putting together a 53-run partnership before Tash MacBean bowled Trussler for 24.

At 84/3, Berkshire looked well placed in their pursuit of 210, but a flurry of wickets sparked a dramatic collapse, with the hosts slipping from 84/3 to 89/8.

With 20 overs remaining, the chase looked unlikely, but a superb partnership between Mary Briscoe and Molly Bulteel gave Berkshire hope as they pulled their side to within 50 runs of the target.

Eventually, Briscoe's impressive knock of 45 came to an end when Duggan dismissed the Berkshire top scorer, just five runs short of a half-century. The victory was sealed just two balls later as Zaynah Wani dismissed Bulteel for 17.

A superb all-round display from Bucks sees them move up to fourth place in the table with just one game remaining. They now travel to Fenner's to face Cambridgeshire (A) in their final game.

Scorecard

Table