South East Stars v Western Storm at Beckenham (Kent) on May 21 (11h00 start)
Aylish Cranstone’s good form continues, scoring a second ‘fifty’ from three matches – the first fifty bagged against Sunrisers. Stars second win keeps them well-placed to defend their Charlotte Edwards Cup title. Previously they lost an evening match to Central Sparks, put down to fielding and dropped catches – a point that Stars remedied to good effect during this game.
*Batting first on a drying outfield, both Storm openers (Georgia Hennessy and Heather Knight) struck ’Stars’ skipper (Bryony Smith) for ‘fours.’ Having reached 49 from ’Storm’s power play, the opening pair made 69 without loss after ten overs (mid-way) but were then removed by soft dismissals.
*Dropping the ball onto the stumps, bowler Alice Davidson-Richards easily ‘ran out’ Heather Knight (35 runs from 24 balls.)
*Eight deliveries later Georgia Hennessy (50 from 52) was caught-and-bowled during the ’Stars’ skipper’s much more economical second over. Dani Gibson played a short-lived cameo (11 from 5), hitting Alice Capsey’s spin for ’six,’ but was caught two balls later by Phoebe Franklin.
*Four more wickets fell as Fran Wilson (15* from 14) steered Storm home albeit with a slower scoring rate towards the end, setting Stars 144 to win – usually said to be a defendable score for the twenty over game.
*Stars lost two quick wickets during their power play, and found themselves ten runs adrift (39/2 vs 49/0.) Storm’s Claire Nicholas bowled 14 dot balls during her opening spell and changed ends before bowling her second eventful over.
*Nicholas found herself on a ‘hat trick.’
*Firstly Stars skipper Bryony Smith was caught by Sophie Luff, as her opposite number.
*Secondly Nicholas clean-bowled teenage star Alice Capsey who received her first ever ‘golden’ duck in the competition.
*Disaster struck when Heather Knight’s first over of spin had Phoebe Franklin caught at ‘long on’ by Dani Gibson, arriving from ‘deep mid-wicket.’
*By mid-way ’Stars’ were 72/3 (v 69/0.) No further wickets were lost before the 100 ball benchmark (16.4 overs) by which point Stars were level-pegging at 115/3 (vs.117/4.)
*Finding the conditions less favourable as balls slowed down, Storm as visitors, mustered only two ‘fours’ from their last three overs.
*From that point, batters Aylish Cranstone 66*(from 49) and Kalea Moore 57*(from 48) struck two ‘fours’ per over as the outfield dried-out enabling faster scoring to the home team’s advantage.
In summary, spectators may have thought the match was closer than the result might suggest. Both sides switched around their bowlers: spin and seam. Storm made a solid start from their power play, but their scoring rate tailed-off, facing more dot balls as more wickets fell. Stars’ score nudged ahead by mid-way. Stars’ in-form opener made top score during an unbeaten century fourth-wicket partnership. Aylish Cranstone and Kalea Moore’s unbeaten 108 run partnership won the match with one over to spare.
Result: (Group ‘B’) South-East Stars Women 148/3 (19 overs, target 146) beat Western Storm Women 145/6 (20 overs); by 7 wickets with 6 balls remaining
Western Storm 145/6 (20 overs, 7.25 runs-per-over): Georgia Hennessy 50 runs (from 52 balls), Heather Knight 35(24), Fran Wilson 15*(14), Sophie Luff 12(14), Danielle ‘Dani’ Gibson 11(5); Stars bowling: Bryony Smith 2/22, Alice Davidson-Richards 1/20, Alice Capsey 1/28. Fow 1-81, 2-91, 3-106, 4-117, 5-134, 6-141;
South-East Stars 148/3 (19/20 overs, 7.78 runs-per-over) Aylish Cranstone 66*(49), Kalea Moore 57*(48); Western Storm bowling: Claire Nicholas 2/17, Heather Knight 1/18, Fow 1-24, 2-24, 3-40.
Scorecard and statistics at URL https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/charlotte-edwards-cup-2022-1298049/south-east-stars-vs-western-storm-group-b-1298059/full-scorecard
See also SKY Sports at URL https://www.skysports.com/live-scores/cricket/south-east-stars-v-western-storm/37642
