The second leg of the Sussex-Hampshire “El Classicoast” friendlies concluded under sunny skies at Falmer with a straightforward Sussex win, making it 2 from 2 for the host side.

Newly-appointed Southern Vipers professional Paige Scholfield, batting at 4, set up Sussex’s total of 237 with a measured 55 (from 73 balls); and emphasised her all-round talents with figures of 3-33 from 8 overs in the Hampshire reply.

Sussex eventually bowled Hampshire out for 196 in 45.5 overs, racking up a 41-run win despite a gutsy half-century from stand-in captain Emily Windsor, who was left stranded on 57*.

The home team had lost captain Georgia Adams early on in proceedings, trapped LBW to debutant seamer Gemma Lane; while last week’s top-scorer Ella McCaughan also departed early, falling LBW to Charlie Dean.

From 54-2, Scholfield guided Sussex to 129-4, offering up a couple of chances along the way, including a tricky catch to a diving Windsor at midwicket. Scholfield then added insult to injury by taking Windsor for 16 runs from the very next over, the first of Windsor’s spell.

Windsor eventually wrought some measure of revenge, having Scholfield bowled in the 32nd as she attempted one cut shot too many and dragged the ball onto her own stumps. The all-round effort from 23-year-old Windsor will no doubt have been noted by Vipers head coach Charlotte Edwards and represents a clear case for her selection in the forthcoming Regional Competition.

Sussex fought back courtesy of a feisty late flourish from Nancy “Harmanpreet” Harman, whose 42 came off just 22 balls, including a couple of huge sixes down the ground – an innings which ultimately represented the difference between the sides.

In reply, Sussex kept Hampshire quiet for the first 10 overs, eventually frustrating Ariana Dowse into sending the ball down the throat of Mary Taylor at midwicket to leave her side 29-1 at the 12-over “sanitisation break”.

With Hampshire’s regular captain and number 3 Maia Bouchier absent from proceedings, Ella Chandler attempted to hold things together but fell victim to a rare spell with the ball from Georgia Adams, who took a smart catch off her own bowling to see off Chandler in the 26th over.

From there Hampshire fell further behind the required rate, with the result looking to be a foregone conclusion until Windsor came to the party, assisted by a flurry of boundaries in the 42nd over from number 9 Providence Cowdrill (14 from 9 balls).

With Hampshire needing 71 off the final 7 overs, Scholfield ended Hampshire hopes by having Cowdrill bowled as she swung at one too many, and then removing Alex Avoth in the following over, caught in the deep.

Players from both sides will now wait nervously to hear the final Southern Vipers squad selection, due to be announced in the next couple of weeks.

With the England players now all together in their biosecure “training bubble” at Derby, the ECB have confirmed that the inter-squad warm-up fixtures which will begin on Thursday will be live-streamed on ecb.co.uk.

In a welcome move to acknowledge the long history of women’s cricket, the inter-squad teams will be named after two greats of the sport, Rachael Heyhoe Flint (1939-2017) and Janette Brittin (1959-2017).

Heyhoe Flint captained England for 10 years between 1966 and 1976 without losing a Test, later leading the charge for female membership of the MCC; while Brittin represented her country between 1979 and 1998, amassing 1,935 Test runs – still a record today.

The 24 England squad players currently at Derby will be aiming to emulate the feats of the pair over the coming days, as they seek to make a case for themselves in the forthcoming series against South Africa (fixtures TBC). The inter-squad match on Thursday will be the first time any of the squad have played since the Twenty20 World Cup back in March.

The ECB have also today confirmed that Tim Macdonald has been appointed as the new Senior Assistant Coach after taking the role on an interim basis earlier in the year.

Cassidy McCarthy took two crucial wickets at the death, as Sussex beat Hampshire by 1 run at the Aldridge Academy in Brighton.

Chasing 156, Hampshire reached 152-8, with 25 balls remaining and Charlotte Taylor set on 19 not out before McCarthy intervened, bowling both Taylor and then Providence Cowdrill to snatch victory by the closest of shaves.

On paper it was a match Sussex should have won easily, with all three of the Southern Vipers “pros” – Georgia Adams, Tara Norris and Paige Scholfield – wearing the blue of Sussex Sharks, against a young Hampshire side which included two debutantes – England Academy Training Squad fast bowler Alex Avoth, and Berkshire wicket keeper Mia Rodgers.

Opening the bowling to Adams and Ella McCaughan, Avoth was hit for 14 in her first over, but came back in her second to dismiss Adams (14), who was beaten for pace, looking to flick it over midwicket, and clean bowled. McCaughan (36) however ploughed on, putting on a fifty partnership with Izzy Collis (23) before adding another 30 with Rodgers predecessor at Berkshire, Carla Rudd, who did her case for a spot on the Vipers squad no harm at all with 22. From 114-3 though, Sussex collapsed somewhat, with no one else reaching double-figures as they were bowled out for 156 inside 40 overs, with Avoth finishing with 3-35.

Hampshire’s reply was very-much a collaborative affair, with no one apart from Ms Extras (27) making more than 23, though Maia Bouchier (21), Charlie Dean (22), Emily Windsor (23) and Alice Monaghan (22) all made it into the twenties; with Beth Harvey taking crucial wickets for Sussex in the middle overs to keep the Sharks on top.

With Hampshire stumbling at 123-7 it looked to be all over bar the shouting, but Taylor had other ideas as the Sussex attack fed her favoured cut shot with a string of half-volleys outside off stump. McCarthy however kept her nerve, bowling first Taylor for 19 and then, having conceded a wide to take Hampshire to within one run, doing the same to Cowdrill to bring home the win for Sussex.