Hayes Hurricanes England under-19 player Natalie Lane quite literally broke the hearts of Hertfordshire girl cricketers in an ECB National group game played at Great Chart Cricket Club.

Natalie, by scoring 175 out of a massive Kent total of 336-3 made in just 45 overs, left Herts with a virtually impossible task. The 18-year-old Kent skipper, who lives in Bexley, opened the batting with The Mote’s Laura Boorman, and despite some hostile bowling from the Herts seamers on a two-paced surface early on, they soon started to dominate.

Lane, in particular, was exceptionally fluent, cutting and driving the ball to all parts of the ground.

Having put on 104 for the first wicket – Boorman was out for 43 – Lane was joined by her Hayes team-mate Susie Rowe, who was soon in on the act, hitting the ball with equal ferocity through mid-wicket.

Rowe, who went on to make 65, could not match the elegant driving, pulling and deft late cuts that Lane was playing all around the wicket, taking 26 off one over which concluded with a huge six out of the ground.

Having exceeded her previous top score of 150, Lane was eventually out in the 43rd over for 175 – a record for any Kent player in age-group cricket – the sixth century of her career. In reply Herts were skittled out for a meagre 46, giving Kent a huge winning margin of 290 runs and another county record.