Sunrisers vs South East Stars at Northampton County Ground (Wantage Road) on 4 May (10h30)
Memorable match for Phoebe Franklin who took one wicket, two catches and struck ‘four’ with her bat to bring scores level. Next ball she hit the winning ‘single,’ closing undefeated on 28*not out; to chalk-up Stars’ fourth victory of the new season with two overs to spare. Both teams used seven bowlers, none of whom took more than two wickets on a pitch described by commentators as ‘flat’ – a batter’s wicket with ‘little to offer’ the bowlers. Where no Sunrisers batters scored ‘fifty,’ scores were level-pegging by mid-way. Thereafter England pairing Sophia Dunkley and Alice Davidson-Richards ‘took the game away,’ (from Sunrisers) staging a match-winning century partnership for Stars, with both batters scoring their ‘fifties.’ Defending champions Vipers lead after 5 rounds, one point ahead of Stars. Lead commentator Dan Jadzevics with Danni Warren, Regional director of women’s cricket for Sunrisers. Weather was mild with sunny spells, around 15C.
*Sunrisers’ innings skipper Grace Scrivens with Mady Villiers (England A) Jodi Grewcock (England u19s) & Nicola Hancock (Australia Big-bash) *With Amu Surenkumar, *Without Kelly Castle (injured) [Chloe Hill keeping wicket for Stars] *Amara Carr went ‘leg-before’ to Tash Farrant’s in-swing for a duck, from her 5th delivery from a 9-ball over; *After 10 overs power-play, 39/1; *Two wickets fell to Alexa Stonehouse when Grace Scrivens was bowled and Cordelia Griffith was caught at ‘midwicket’ by Phoebe Franklin; *Spinners Kalea Moore paired with Danni Gregory bowled 12 overs, Gregory continuing her spell paired with Phoebe Franklin; *Kalea Moore took 2 wickets when Mady Villiers was bowled and Jodi Grewcock was caught-and-bowled; By mid-way 111/5 (25 overs); *Amu Surenkumar was caught by Phoebe Franklin from Danni Gregory; *Jo Gardner was caught by Tash Farrant from Phoebe Franklin; *Flo Miller was caught (sub) from Alice-Davidson-Richards’ third delivery; *Nicola Hancock was caught by Phoebe Franklin from Alice-Davidson-Richards; *Kate Coppack and Esmae McGregor saw out the final seven overs, nudging Sunrisers adding 35 runs toward a defendable score of 222/9; *Sunrisers’ batting 9 batters made double-figures *Flo Miller 30 (33), Cordelia Griffith 28(42), Amu Surenkumar 25(37), Jodi Grewcock 24(40), Esmae MacGregor 20*not out(34); Kate Coppack 17*not out(22), Nicola Hancock 16(29), Grace Scrivens 15(37), Mady Villiers 11(12); *Stars’ bowling using 7 bowlers, gifting 19 ‘wides’; Alexa Stonehouse 2/22, Alice-Davidson-Richards 2/29, Kalea Moore 2/42, Phoebe Franklin 1/30, Tash Farrant 1/38, Danni Gregory 1/40;
*Stars’ innings skipper Bryony Smith with Alice-Davidson-Richards, Sophia Dunkley & Tash Farrant (England); Paige Scholfield (England ‘A’) with Phoebe Franklin, Danielle Gregory & Kalea Moore; *Without Tazmin Brits (Rep. South Africa, injured) *Without Alice Capsey, Kira Chathli (injured) Ryana MacDonald-Gay or Bethan Miles [Amara Carr keeping wicket for Sunrisers]; *After 10 overs power-play, 46/0 (vs 39/2); *Tash Farrant was bowled middle-stump by Jodi Grewcock’s first ball; *Bryony Smith went ‘leg-before’ to Mady Villiers; 3 wickets advantage by mid-way: 116/2 (vs 111/5); *Century partnership between England pairing Sophia Dunkley and Alice Davidson-Richards added 105; Alice Davidson-Richards, snicked an outside edge to keeper Amara Carr from Mady Villiers; *Sophia Dunkley also edged to Amara Carr, but from Phoebe Franklin; *Aylish Cranstone, went ‘leg-before’ during Nicola Hancock’s final over; Phoebe Franklin struck ‘four’ bringing scores level also scoring the winning ‘single.’ *Stars’ batting *53-run opening partnership between Bryony Smith and Tash Farrant; *As mentioned above, Sophia Dunkley and Alice Davidson-Richards partnership added 105; *Sophia Dunkley 67(89), Alice Davidson-Richards 50(67), Bryony Smith 34(45), Phoebe Franklin 28*not out(41), Tash Farrant 20(31) *Sunrisers’ bowling Mady Villiers 2/43, Esmae MacGregor 1/19, Jodi Grewcock 1/37, Nicola Hancock 1/41;
Match result: South East Stars 223/5 (@4.6 runs-per-over from 47.5/50 ov, target 223 from 50 ov) beat Sunrisers 222/9 (@4.4 rpo from 50/50 ov) by five wickets with 13 balls remaining
*Scorecard courtesy of ECB @URL https://www.ecb.co.uk/rachael-heyhoe-flint-trophy/match-centre/104435#scorecard
*Match free-to-air courtesy of Sunrisers Cricket (via NV Play) on YouTube<07h06m25s> @URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wsm_2x6Qi0
*ECB Reporters network (Saurabh Nagpal @URL https://www.southeaststars.com/dunkley-shines-as-stars-overcome-sunrisers/
*Bruce Perkins post-match opinion South East Stars Flying High @URL http://4theloveofsport.co.uk/2024/05/05/south-east-stars-flying-high/
*South East Stars on Instagram (search for Playing XI, on Saturday 4th May) @URL https://www.instagram.com/sestarscricket/
