Western Storm vs Sunrisers at Taunton, Somerset (The Cooper Associates County Ground) on 31 May 2024 @14h30
Storm chalked-up their first win from five matches, matching their opponents who last week beat the double-defending champions. Sunrisers’ Sophie Munro looked set to cause another upset when her first over took two wickets. When Storm replied, spinner Sophia Smale – pictured (England u-19s) took three Sunrisers’ wickets and two catches. England’s Lauren Filer also bagged a 3-fer, but Sparks loan Ellie Anderson did one better and took a 4-fer. By comparison, five Sunrisers bowlers took at least one wicket each during what turned out to be a low-scoring match. Both teams scores were level-pegging at mid-way: 59/6 (vs 57/3) and a total of 18 wickets fell. Interviewed post-match Sophia Smale said that Storm ‘put on a show,’ and gave credit to her skipper Sophie Luff who made top-score. Separately, the visitor’s run-chase stalled during the third-to-last over, handing victory to Storm 28 runs short of their target. Commentators were Clare B Jenkins (Women’s cricket commentator) and Dr Hannah Thompson-Radford (both ex-Somerset Women) were impressed by Storm’s polished performance in the field. Weather: cloudy with patches of blue sky 15-20C.
*Storm’s innings skipper Sophie Luff, Fran Wilson (recovered from injury); Chloe Skelton, Sophia Smale, (England u-19s), Amanda-Jade Wellington (Australia Big bash); & Ellie Anderson ‘on loan’ & Issy Wong from Sparks; *Depleted by three players on England call-up (including Danni Gibson with knee injury) [*Amara Carr keeping wicket for Sunrisers]; *Notable improvement between Emma Corney and Nat Wraith, whose opening partnership contributed 25. *During the power-play (3.4ov), Emma Corney was bowled with bails sent flying by Jodi Grewcock; *After 6 overs power-play, 37/1; *Disaster struck when 2 wickets fell during Sophie Munro’s first over at 44/3; *Fran Wilson was caught aerial at ‘mid-wicket’ by Jo Gardner; *Two balls later, Nat Wraith was caught at ‘mid-wicket’ by Cordelia Griffith; *By mid-way: 57/3; *Partnership between Amanda-Jade Wellington and skipper Luff added 43 runs until Wellington was stumped by Amara Carr from Mady Villiers; *With 5 overs remaining, Alex Griffiths was bowled ‘top-of-middle’ by Eva Gray; *Next over, Issy Wong was caught aerial at ‘long-on’ by Jo Gardner from Nic Hancock; *Making top-score, Sophie Luff was caught aerial at ‘deep backward square’ by Flo Miller from Mady Villiers; *Penultimate over, Chloe Skelton was caught behind from a fine edge, by keeper Amara Carr from Eva Gray; *Sophie Munro’s death over went for 7 runs; *Storm’s batting: Sophie Luff 41(34), Amanda-Jade Wellington 20(15), Nat Wraith 17(20), Sophia Smale 14*not out(9), Emma Corney 10(9); Sunrisers’ bowling: Mady Villiers 2/20; Sophie Munro 2/26, Eva Gray 2/31, Jodi Grewcock 1/18, Nic Hancock 1/23;
*Sunrisers’ innings: skipper Grace Scrivens (ECB Development Squad & England ‘A’) with Lauren Filer (England), Mady Villiers (England ‘A’), Jodi Grewcock (England u19s), Eva Gray (ECB Development Squad) *Also with Sophie Munro; Plus Nicola ’Nic’ Hancock (Australia Big-bash) *Without Ariana Dowse, Amu Surenkumar, Kelly Castle (injured) [*Nat Wraith keeping wicket for Storm]; *Grace Scrivens was caught aerial at ‘mid-on’ to the left-hander by Sophia Smale, from Lauren Filer’s fifth ball; *Joanne ‘Jo’ Gardner was caught aerial at ‘mid-on’ by Sophia Smale from Ellie Anderson’s fourth ball; *Lissy MacLeod went aerial, caught at ‘slip’ by Alex Griffiths during Lauren Filer’s second over; *After 6 overs power-play, 42/3 (vs 37/1); *Disaster struck when 2 wickets fell during Sophia Smale’s first over; *Firstly, Mady Villiers was caught aerial at ‘cover’ by keeper Nat Wraith running round; *Followed by Jodi Grewcock who mistimed, missed and was bowled for a golden duck; *Approaching mid-way, Cordelia Griffith was caught at ‘deep midwicket’ by Alex Griffiths from Sophia Smale; *Level-pegging by mid-way: 59/6 (vs 57/3) but Storm with 3 wickets advantage; *Flo Miller 7th wicket partnership with Amara Carr added 35 runs; *Flo Miller was caught aerial ‘in the deep’ by Amanda-Jade Wellington from Ellie Anderson; *Next over, Eva Gray (mis-spelt by non-UK sources) was caught comfortably at ‘square’ by Sophia Smale from Lauren Filer; *Final two wickets fell during the 18th over from Ellie Anderson; *Attempting a paddle, Amara Carr was bowled ‘off-stump;’ *Finally,Nic Hancock was caught at ‘deep square’ by Alex Griffiths; *Sunrisers’ batting: Three batters made double-figures: Florence ‘Flo’ Miller 28(30), Cordelia Griffith 26(26), Amara Carr 14(16); *Storm’s bowling: Ellie Anderson 4/9, Sophia Smale 3/15, Lauren Filer 3/19;
*Match result: Western Storm 134/8 (@6.7 runs-per-over, from 20/20overs); 4 points; beat Sunrisers 106/10 (6.4 rpo, from 17.4/20 ov, target 135 from 20/20 ov.) by 28 runs with 14 balls remaining
*Scorecard courtesy of ECB @url https://www.ecb.co.uk/charlotte-edwards-cup/match-centre/104389AppleMac users may need to scroll down on left margin to select a match
*Video highlights (46) courtesy of Western Storm & NV Play @url https://live.nvplay.com/ecb/#vee27ebf4-2215-4002-9418-3d60a3943648 & https://westernstorm.co.uk/fixtures-results/#vfbdf2b65-ef82-4f5a-b863-c9f61f4dd664
*Full match free-to-air courtesy of Western Storm (via NV Play) on YouTube<03h24m14s>@url https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaXIAxouvzg
*Sophia (Smale) delighted by Storm Victory courtesy of Western Storm<02m43s> @url https://westernstorm.co.uk/news/2024-cec-victory-for-storm-at-taunton/ viewable when scrolling down to the end.
