Southern Vipers v Thunder at The 1st Central County Ground, Hove on May 14
*Before the match, Social media had quizzed England stars on their top twenty players to watch, from the eight women’s regional T20 teams playing for the Charlotte Edwards Cup. Amy Jones picked fellow keeper Ellie Threlkeld, who has what could be a big year both with the bat, and also as Thunder’s skipper. Freya Davies picked Lauren Bell, who’s being coached by Viper’s skipper Anya Shrubsole. *On the day, five out of Shrubsole’s seven bowlers took at least one wicket each.
*The match was broadcast live on BBC Radio Solent (commentator – Melissa Story) and followed on Social Media (including ECB and ESPN).
*Thunder made a promising start in perfect blue-sky conditions, openers Emma Lamb and Georgie Boyce averaging one run-per-ball *Thunder reached 41 without loss from the first three overs.
*By comparison, Vipers did even better. After the power play (6 ov.) Thunder were 40-1 (Vipers 56-1.)
*Beyond the power play, Thunder’s scoring rate diminished as more wickets fell.
*Debutant left-arm seamer Freya Kemp took two wickets: firstly Georgie Boyce (10) caught by Paige Scholfield; and secondly fellow debutante Shachi Pai (1 from 3) was caught behind by keeper Carla Rudd.
*Thunder closed on 102 with only four batters making double figures, well short of a defendable score on a perfect batter’s pitch.
*Vipers’ reply was constructed from two key decisive partnerships.
*Making top score of the day, Maia Bouchier (48* runs from 33 balls) had one lucky escape when dropped at 30 by Thunder’s Kate Cross. Firstly, Bouchier added sixty runs from 43 balls with Georgia Adams (34 from 27). Bouchier’s second partnership with Georgia Elwiss (13* from 20) took Vipers comfortably home with a wide margin of 39 balls to spare.
Result: Southern Vipers Women 103-2 (13.3 overs) awarded 5 points; beat Thunder Women 102-7 (20 ov.) by 8 wickets with 39 balls remaining
Thunder 102-7 (20 overs, 5.1 runs-per-over)
Emma Lamb (23 from 23), Ellie Threlkeld (18 from 29), Danielle Collins (11 from 15) Georgie Boyce (10 from 10)
Vipers bowling: Freya Kemp 2/13, Charlie Dean 2/17, Georgia Elwiss 1/13, Anya Shrubsole 1/18, Lauren Bell 1/26
Fow 1-36, 2-44, 3-59, 4-62, 5-68, 5-78, 6-82, 7-91
Vipers 103-2 (13.3 overs, 7.62 runs-per-over)
Maia Bouchier (48* from 33), Georgia Adams (34 from 27), Georgia Elwiss (13* from 20)
Thunder bowling: Emma Lamb 1/6, Kate Cross 1/23; Fow 1-3, 2-63
Scorecard at: https://www.espn.com/cricket/series/20568/scorecard/1298051/southern-vipers-vs-thunder-group-charlotte-edwards-cup
