Worcestershire Rapids' Gwen Davies made a triumphant return after injury, helping her team to a Vitality Blast T20 win.
Davies, who had been out for more than a month due to an ankle injury, scored 41 runs in the six-wicket victory over Sussex Sharks.
Playing in front of a home crowd at New Road, Ed Wilson’s side was aiming for a second consecutive Blast victory to boost their chances of qualifying in the competition.
Despite a County Cup exit between the two Blast fixtures, the team took positives from their test against Tier One Surrey last week, keeping spirits high as they faced Sussex.
This positive outlook paid off, leading to an impressive performance on Sunday, a fact that Davies found particularly pleasing.
“It feels phenomenal,” she said.
“I felt like we let the crowd down a little bit last time we were here for the Northants double header, so it’s really pleasing to put in a performance like that for them today and make sure they had something to come and watch.
“Watching the way Bry, Maddie and Beechy went about it at Bromsgrove definitely filled us with confidence.
“Then picking up on the experience of Surrey last weekend, our girls really observed how they went about it and the fact they had no fear at all.
“It’s definitely something we’ve been talking about, something we’ve been preparing to do in training and it’s really pleasing that it came off today.”
Davies kicked off her 2026 campaign with a half-century away at Sussex in the Metro Bank One Day Cup.
However, Worcestershire’s left-handed batter saw her progress halted by a torn ankle ligament, which kept her out of action for over a month.
Making her return against Sussex, the former Tier One campaigner quickly found her form, striking 41 from 21 deliveries.
Her performance, which included a fruitful partnership with youngster Madison Windeatt, was a key part of Worcestershire’s success.
Reflecting on her comeback, Davies said: “I feel like I’ve sort of made up for lost time.
“Sitting out for four weeks has been a bit painful, so I thought let’s come out and have a bit of fun today.
“It was really enjoyable batting with Maddie.
“As a batting group, it’s really pleasing that we’ve been brave enough to go after it and it’s come off.
“Hopefully we can carry this on now and put another good performance in next week against Glamorgan and then see what happens up until finals day.”
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