Somerset Women vs Surrey Women, WODC, Today Match Prediction

SOMW vs SUR-W Match Prediction & Analysis

Somerset Women are set to host Surrey Women in Match 24 of the Metro Bank Women's One-Day Cup on Sunday, May 11th. The match is scheduled to take place at The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton, with the first ball expected at 3:00 PM IST.

Somerset Women come into this match on the back of a commanding 48-run victory over Warwickshire Women in their previous fixture. On the other hand, Surrey Women are reeling from a 5-wicket loss against Lancashire Women in their last game, where they failed to defend a substantial total of 297 runs at Southport on Sunday.

Current standings - Somerset Women are positioned strongly in 2nd place with 17 points from 5 matches (4 wins & 1 loss), while Surrey Women are in 6th place with 5 points from their 5 matches (1 win & 4 losses).

In of their head-to-head record in Women's 50-over competitions, Somerset Women hold a dominant 3-0 win-loss record against Surrey Women. When these two teams clashed earlier this season, Somerset Women secured a 7-wicket victory in a rain-affected game, successfully chasing down a target of 239 runs in 33 overs.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Somerset Women Preview

Somerset Women continued their winning streak and maintained their position in the top two of the Metro Bank Women's One-Day Cup season, securing a 48-run victory over Warwickshire Women in their last match, which proved to be an engaging contest between two strong batting sides.

Batting first, Somerset Women posted a formidable total of 297 for 6 wickets, propelled by a magnificent century from their captain, Sophie Luff (111 runs off 105 balls), a well-compiled half-century from Heather Knight (70 runs off 93 balls), and valuable contributions from Emma Corney (37 runs) and Fran Wilson (37 runs).

Somerset Women then faced a challenging task defending this total on a pitch conducive to batting with short square boundaries. At one stage, Warwickshire Women were in a commanding position following a solid opening partnership. However, a cohesive bowling performance from Amanda-Jade Wellington, Lauren Filer, Claire Skelton, and Niamh Holland, who each picked up two wickets, ultimately led to Somerset bowling out their opponents for 249 runs in 48.5 overs.

Somerset's batting unit has shown great cohesion, with their top order consistently scoring the bulk of the runs and setting a strong platform. Heather Knight has been leading the charge with 189 runs in 5 matches, while Fran Wilson has contributed 169 runs in the same number of games. In the bowling department, Amanda-Jade Wellington and Ellie Anderson are their leading wicket-takers with 8 and 7 wickets respectively.

Somerset Women Predicted Playing XI:

Emma Corney, Heather Knight, Fran Wilson, Sophie Luff (c), Ellie Anderson, Charlie Dean, Amanda-Jade Wellington, Alex Griffiths, Katie Jones (wk), Chloe Skelton, Mollie Robbins

Surrey Women Preview

Despite boasting a world-class squad, Surrey Women have underperformed this season, suffering defeats in four of their five matches. Their most recent setback came against Lancashire Women at Southport, where they failed to defend a substantial total of 297 runs.

Batting first, Surrey Women found themselves in early trouble, losing three wickets for just 50 runs. However, Paige Scholfield (87 runs) and Alice Davidson-Richards (100 runs) then forged a crucial 142-run partnership for the fourth wicket, staging a significant recovery. Contributions from Kira Chathli (24 runs) and Rhianna Southby (22 runs) provided late impetus, helping Surrey Women reach 296 for 8 wickets, though they might have felt they were around 15-20 runs short.

Defending their total, Surrey Women struck at regular intervals, reducing Lancashire Women to 124 for 3. However, their bowlers were unable to maintain the pressure and failed to contain the flow of runs. As a result, Lancashire Women cruised towards the target, completing the run-chase in 48 overs. Eva Gray and Amy Gordon picked up 2 wickets each for Surrey Women.

Surrey Women possess a formidable batting lineup, having scored over 290 runs in each of their last three matches. However, their inability to defend these totals in the last two matches highlights a concern in their bowling department. They appear to lack a frontline seam bowler who can consistently take wickets in the powerplay overs and rely more heavily on their spinners to make breakthroughs.

Surrey Women Predicted Playing XI:

Bryony Smith (C), Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Alice Capsey, Sophia Dunkley, Paige Scholfield, Alice Davidson-Richards, Ryana McDonald-Gay, Kira Chathli (wk), Alice Monaghan, Danielle Gregory, Tilly Corteen-Coleman

Weather Conditions

The Weather at Taunton on Sunday, 11th May is expected to be around 21°C and there is a slight chance of rain during the match hours with the wind blowing at  13 km/hr. 

SOMW vs SUR-W Pitch Report

The pitch at Taunton generally favours the batters, making it a high-scoring ground. However, as the game progresses, the surface tends to become drier and slower, which can make run-scoring increasingly difficult for the batting side. 

The average first innings score in the last four matches played at Taunton is a competitive 254 runs, suggesting that while batters can initially score well, they need to adapt to the changing conditions as the innings progresses. 

Toss: To Bat

Considering the recent trend at Taunton, where teams batting first have won three of the last four matches, and the potential difficulty in chasing a target exceeding 240 runs, we predict that the team winning the toss will likely opt to bat first.