Alex Hartley and Tammy Beaumont led Surrey Stars to a comfortable 7-wicket bonus point victory at Guildford against an out-of-sorts Lancashire Thunder in the Kia Super League.
England left-arm spinner Hartley picked up figures of 3 for 11 off her allocated four overs, whilst Beaumont batted through the innings to finish on 45 not out, as Surrey Stars chased down 102-9, all but ending the hopes of Lancashire Thunder of reaching Finals Day.
Lancashire Thunder were indebted to New Zealand international Amy Satterthwaite (34no), with the overseas star having to hold her composure, with wickets falling all around her.
“We are over the moon, even better that we got the bonus point and we move onto Friday for another important game” said Hartley. “It seems to be coming out quite nice for me, it’s nice to be in a little bit of form and hopefully I can keep it up.”
After winning the toss and inserting their opponents into bat, Surrey got off to a perfect start as Thunder’s overseas star Hayley Matthews, was adjudged LBW off South African international Marizanne Kapp, on the second ball of the match.
That brought Satterthwaite to the crease, but it was opener Emma Lamb (27) that gave Lancashire Thunder some momentum, taking 16 off the second over of the match. However, when she became Kapp’s second wicket of the afternoon, the visitors began to implode.
Hartley and Laura Marsh (1-21) worked well in tandem to thwart any impetus from their opponents, with the latter taking two wickets in an over including that of prize overseas star Deandra Dottin without scoring.
Danni Wyatt’s first ball duck further put Thunder on the back foot and they were not helped by run-outs, as first Natasha Miles was left short thanks to Cordelia Griffith’s fast reactions, before Marsh ran out Ellie Threlkeld.
Thunder captain Satterthwaite could only watch from the other end as their opponents, cheered on by a crowd heading towards 1000, seemed switched on from ball one.
Their day was summed up perfectly, as Natalie Brown was run out off the last ball, with Lea Tahuhu hitting directly from deep, as Thunder limped to 102-9.
Surrey Stars began their chase in style racing to 49-0 off their powerplay overs, with Beaumont playing second fiddle early on to Bryony Smith (30), who blasted the ball to all parts, before going for one to many big shots, finding the safe hands of Satterthwaite off Dottin.
Stars captain Natalie Sciver (14) became a victim to the West Indies contingent as she was caught in the deep by Dottin off Matthews, before Griffith was caught behind off Sophie Ecclestone, who was the pick of the bowlers for Thunder.
Beaumont and Kapp (6no) finished off proceedings to give Surrey Stars the bonus point win, and they now go head-to-head with Loughborough Lightning on Friday for a place in Finals Day at Chelmsford.
Thunder captain Satterthwaite said: “It felt like a tricky pitch to me, I didn’t feel in throughout my innings but then the way they played showed that there were no real demons in it. It felt sticky at times but I think we were just too timid on it and we just didn’t kick on.”
Stephen Titchard, Thunder’s Head Coach, added: “At 66-3 from 11 overs of our innings we were in the game. However from then on we didn’t play to our potential and posted a below par score, which didn’t allow us to create much pressure on Surrey Stars when it was their turn to bat.
“A generally disappointing performance but we need to bounce back on Friday against Yorkshire Diamonds.”
Scorecard: Surrey Stars (106 for 3) win by 7 wickets, defeating Lancashire Thunder (102-9).
Thunder’s final game in the group stages is home to Yorkshire Diamonds on Friday 12 August starting 6:00pm at Emirates Old Trafford.
For full fixtures / results and tickets visit: www.lancashirecricket.co.uk/thundertickets.
Report courtesy of the England and Wales Cricket Board.
