Thunder’s score stifled by Diamonds’ sharp bowling
- Losing three quick wickets, Thunder staged a recovery when Georgie Boyce (29) and Natalie Brown struck a combined total of 11 ‘fours’ – Natalie Brown top-scored with 32 runs off 41 balls.
- Facing a barrage of unplayable ‘dot’ balls, Thunder’s final seven wickets fell for only 52 runs.
- Three of Diamonds’ bowlers posted over 40 dot balls each: Beth Langston (3/18) with 44 dot balls; Phoebe Graham (2/29) with 42 dot balls and Linsey Smith (1/26) with 42 dot balls.
- Two other Diamonds’ bowlers bagged two wickets:- Jenny Gunn (2/18) and Kate Levick (2/39).
- Diamonds reached their target with six wickets in hand and 20 overs to spare.
- Captain Hollie Armitage made a solid start hitting six fours (36) until caught-and-bowled by Alex Hartley.
- Sterre Kalis top scored for Diamonds with nine ‘fours’ (55 not out); partnering England’s former world cup all-rounder Jenny Gunn (26 not out) to clinch victory for Diamonds by a comfortably wide margin.
Result: Northern Diamonds (144-4) beat Thunder by six wickets (143 all out, 42.5 overs.)
Stars placed under pressure by Vipers squeeze
- Remarkably, three Vipers players made scorecard headlines in four Stars dismissals
- Firstly, Maia Bouchier took four catches to dismiss four-out-of-five top order batters
- Lauren Bell (4/36) bagged four Stars’ wickets, with 43 ‘dot’ balls and one rare ‘maiden’
- Thirdly Paige Scholfield (1/43) took 1 wicket, took one catch and made 2 run outs
- Top scorer Chloe Brewer (79) hit 12 ‘fours.’ Grace Gibbs struck 30 from just 19 balls
- Set 228 to win, Vipers’ captain Georgia Adams (41) made a good foundation with 7 ‘fours’
- Three top-order Vipers players went ‘leg before wicket’ to Danielle Gregory (3/44)
- Hannah Jones took 2/47. Tash Farrant (1/33) delivered 43 dot balls to her old team
- Emily Windsor finished unbeaten (47) leaving a nine-ball margin-of-safety for Vipers
Result: Southern Vipers 230-6 beat South-East Stars 227 (48.3 overs) by four wickets
Storm cast a cloud over Sunrisers
- Before the match, Storm rearranged its batting order, fortuitously promoting Alex Griffiths
- When Storm’s captain Sophie Luff went for 3, Storm were looking shaky on 45-3.
- Georgia Hennessy (105) and Alex Griffiths (80) added 155 for the fifth wicket partnership
- Georgia Hennessy’s century included 14 ‘fours’ at a rate of almost one-run-per-ball
- Alex Griffiths’ 80 came at a faster rate – from 68 balls, including 11 ‘fours’ and one ‘six’
- Katie Wolfe (2/34) bowled 42 dot balls. Alice MacLeod (2/64) also took four wickets
- After their allotted 50 overs, Storm had made 288-6; setting Sunrisers 289 to win
- Scores were comparable up to 20 overs, beyond which Sunrisers lost more wickets
- Georgia Hennessy (29/2) also took two wickets and ran out two of the last three players
- Sunrisers’ final three wickets fell during the last four balls of Emily Edgcombe’s final over
Result: Storm (288-6) beat Sunrisers 241 (49 overs) by 47 runs
Flash Lightning dazzles Central Sparks
- Sarah Bryce made the day’s top score of 136 not out, at a faster rate than one-run-per-ball
- Sparks 3 top-order players scored most of their runs, remaining 8 players failing to reach double figures
- Sparks captain Evelyn Jones as opener, carried her bat – scoring 115 not out
- Both teams bowled similar numbers of dot balls (Sparks 155 v Lightning 153) and 10+ wides
- Lightning bowlers took all ten Sparks wickets, compared to Sparks bowlers who claimed only four
- For Lightning, two bowlers bagged three wickets with similar economy:-
- Kathryn Bryce (3/54) with 31 ‘dot’ balls and Bethan Ellis (3/25) with 13 ‘dot’ balls
- For Sparks, Anisha Patel (2/46) took two wickets and one catch
Result: Lightning 303 beat Central Sparks 243 (10 wickets 49,4 overs) by 55 runs
Scorecards
Top batting performers
Sarah Bryce (Lightning) 136 not out off 133 balls; Evelyn Jones (Sparks) 115 n.o. off 138 balls; Georgia Hennessy (Storm) 105 off 110 balls; Alex Griffiths (Storm) 80 off 68 balls; Chloe Brewer (Stars) 79 off 107 balls; Grace Scrivens (Sunrisers) 72 off 73 balls; Teresa Graves (Lightning) 65 off 57 balls; Sterre Kalis (Diamonds) 55 n.o. off 67 balls
Top bowling performers
Lauren Bell (Vipers) 4/36 with 43 ‘dot’ balls; Beth Langston (Diamonds) 3/18 with 44 ‘dots’; Bethan Ellis (Lightning) 3/25 with 13 ‘dots’; Danielle Gregory (Stars) 3/44 with 33 ‘dots’; Kathryn Bryce (Lightning) 3/54 with 31 ‘dots’
Final match will be played between Southern Vipers and Northern Diamonds on 27 September at Edgbaston
