North West Thunder vs South East Stars on 4 June 2023 (14h30): at Blackpool (Stanley Park)
With the presence of key England players (including Emma Lamb) in Thunder’s team but noticeably absent from Stars, LancsTV commentators commended Thunder for their strong performance. As Thunder’s stand-out performer, Emma Lamb top-scored with 63 runs (from 38 balls) and took 2/17. Commentators sat inside a tent, were Mike Perkins (Sports journalist) and Paige Caunce (HerGameToo.) Video highlights from ECB online (NV Play) edited from Lancs TV coverage: please see below. Blackpool weather was warm and sunny, with clear blue sky.
Thunder’s innings: *Skipper Ellie Threlkeld *[Chloe Hill keeping wicket for Stars] *With England’s Kate Cross & Emma Lamb; *Internationals Tara Norris (USA) & Deandre Dottin ex-WIndies. *Making top-score, Emma Lamb 63(38) staged 2 match-winning partnerships: firstly with Libby Heap 19(27) for 58 runs. *Just before mid-way, Libby Heap lost her off-stump, (mis-reported elsewhere as ‘middle’ stump): tilted-back by Phoebe Franklin (2/18). *Thunder reached 69/1 by mid-way. *Emma Lamb’s second batting partnership with Fi Morris, added 59 runs; until Lamb launched a steepler that was caught ‘in the deep’ by Kalea Moore from Phoebe Franklin. *Next over, Stars spinner Danielle Gregory bagged 2 wickets when Thunder’s Deandre Dottin 2(4) & skipper Ellie Threlkeld went ‘leg before,’ 2 balls apart. *After 16.4 overs, Thunder were 128/4. *Finally, Fi Morris 44(31) was caught by Aylish Cranstone from Bryony Smith (1/34), leaving Naomi Dattani 30*not out (18). *Commentators mentioned that batters were fortunate to survive at least 3 dropped catches. *Best bowler was Danielle Gregory (2/14.)
Stars’ innings: *Skipper Bryony Smith. *[Ellie Threlkeld keeping wicket for Thunder] *With Tash Farrant, Aylish Cranstone, Chloe Hill, Kalea Moore & Claudie Cooper. *Alice Capsey, Freya Davies, Alice Davidson-Richards, Sophia Dunkley and Kira Chathli all rested. *After 6 overs PowerPlay, Stars were level-pegging 55/0 (vs. 50/0). *Opening partnership between Bryony Smith & Paige Scholfield banked 87 runs. *Both batters departed during the 10th over. *Bryony Smith 51(32) was bowled, attempting to ‘reverse sweep’ Olivia Bell; & Paige Scholfield 31(27) went ‘leg before’ missing a square-cut, also to Olivia Bell (2/16.) *Stars reached 88/2 (vs 69/1) by mid-way. *Next over, Emma Lamb (2/17) bowled an 11-ball over from 5 ‘wides,’ interrupted by 2 wickets. *Firstly Aylish Cranstone was stumped by Ellie Threlkeld, striding down to Emma Lamb for a 2nd ball ‘duck.’ *Secondly, Ryana Macdonald-Gay snicked a fine edge to jubilant Ellie Threlkeld for a ‘golden duck.’ *Change-of-bowling returned Kate Cross, who caught-and-bowled Tash Farrant 6(7) from a ‘steepler’ with her first-ball. *Next over, Phoebe Franklin 12(9) was also caught-and-bowled, returning a ‘dolly’ straight back to Tara Norris. *Naomi Dattani (2/25) took 2 wickets from 2 overs. *Alexa Stonehouse ’steepled’ to keeper Ellie Threlkeld, for a 3rd ball ‘duck.’ *Naomi Dattani also flattened Kalea Moore’s 10(14) leg-stump. *By comparison after 16.4 overs: Thunder (at 128/4) had 4 wickets’ advantage (vs Stars 132/8.) *Seamers Kate Cross (2/29) and Tara Norris struck again, when Emma Lamb took a ballooning catch at ‘mid-wicket’ to dismiss Chloe Hill from Kate Cross. *Finally, tail-ender Claudie Cooper 18(15) who struck 3 defiant ‘fours,’ top-edged a ‘steepler,’ caught-and-bowled by Tara Norris (2/2). *Five bowlers took 2 wickets, each.
Match summary: Thunder’s Emma Lamb top-scored, together with Fi Morris putting on 59 runs for Thunder’s 2nd wicket. Thunder lost key batters (West Indies Superstar Deandre Dottin and their skipper) during the same over to spinner Danielle Gregory, both for single-figures. By comparison, Stars’ skipper Bryony Smith with in-form batter Paige Scholfield opened with 87 without loss. Once both openers fell 3 balls apart to newbie Olivia Bell (2/16) Stars receded to 95/4. Stars continued to lose their wickets at regular intervals. After 16.4 overs (100 balls): Thunder (at 128/4) had 4 wickets’ advantage (vs Stars 132/8): and seemed confident to win, as Stars’ required-run-rate passed 2 runs-per-ball. With both sides looking for their third win, optimistic commentators lauded Thunder’s good win, ‘needing to pass Vipers’ & ‘stand any chance’ of their team making the semi-final. For Stars, the match was a ‘dead rubber’ with insufficient points and lower net-run-rate to qualify for finals day.
Match result: Thunder Women 165/5 beat Stars Women 149/10 (target 166) by 16 runs with 4 balls remaining
*Thunder batting: 165/5 (20/20 overs @8.2 runs-per-over) Emma Lamb 63(38) Fi Morris 44(31) Naomi Dattani 30*not out (18) Liberty ‘Libby’ Heap 19(27); Stars bowling: Danielle Gregory 2/14, Phoebe Franklin 2/18, Bryony Smith 1/34; Fow 1-58, 2-117, 3-120, 4-120, 5-160.
*Stars batting: 149/10 (19.2/20 overs @7.7 runs-per-over – target 166 from 20 ov.) Bryony Smith 51(32), Paige Scholfield 31(27), Claudie Cooper 18(15), Phoebe Franklin 12(9), Kalea Moore 10(14); Thunder bowling: Tara Norris 2/2, Olivia Bell 2/16, Emma Lamb 2/17, Naomi Dattani 2/25, Kate Cross 2/29; Fow: 1-87, 2-88, 3-95, 4-95, 5-106, 6-113, 7-118, 7-127, 9-142, 10-149.
*Scorecard with video highlights, courtesy of ECB via NV Play at URL: https://live.nvplay.com/ecb/#mef3bc927-1a26-4b96-8073-cd36199654a1_~scorecard
*Full match video courtesy of Lancs TV for NW Thunder (starting from 07m32s/3h04m55s) via YouTube at URL:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hImNfk46Jzo
*Latest England and Wales Cricket Board tables at URL: https://www.ecb.co.uk/matches/womens-t20/table
