Central Sparks vs Lancashire Thunder at Birmingham, Edgbaston on 14 June 2024 at 14h00 (‘Friday Night Lights’ double-header)
Billed as a ‘big Thunder clash,’ as recently as 8 June, Sparks were beaten by Thunder at Old Trafford and were said to be ‘in a really good position’ to qualify for finals day. By contrast, home team commentators saw the match as a ‘massive game,’ that went down to the final ball. Earlier, Thunder posted a defendable score. Opener Seren Smale (England ‘A’) chalked-up her maiden t20 half-century that included nine ‘fours’, closing undefeated on 88*not out (from 61 balls.) Sparks’ Amy Jones (pictured) who kept wicket on the day, launched fellow England team-mate Sophie Ecclestone for ‘six’ and scored 67*not out. Sparks’ match-winning century partnership with fellow keeper Abbey Freeborn (who also scored ‘fifty’) went down to the final over. With tied-scores, Amy Jones scored ‘four’ to see Sparks chalk-up their fifth win and ‘head towards’ finals day at Derby, expecting to finish the group stage in third-place. Commentators who talked of a ‘nail-biter’ were Clare B Jenkins (women’s cricket commentator, senior lecturer, former player for Derbys & Somerset Women) with Michael ‘Mike’ Perkins (Sports journalist) and guest from Birmingham Unicorns, whose founding member advises Warwickshire County Cricket Members on inclusion and diversity. Weather was mainly overcast with grey clouds, but remaining dry.
*Thunder’s innings skipper Eleanor ‘Ellie’ Threlkeld; with Kate Cross, Sophie Ecclestone & Emma Lamb (England), Seren Smale (England ‘A’), *With Katie Mack (Australia big-bash); *One change announced: Liberty ‘Libby’ Heap for Sophie Morris *Without Mahika Gaur or Ailsa Lister (Scotland) or Georgia Voll (Australia big-bash – injured); [*Amy Jones keeping wicket for Sparks]; *Fifteen minutes delay for rain. *Third ball (gaffed by non-UK sources as 2nd ‘bowl’), Fi Morris was bowled ‘off-stump,’ with bails sent flying by Grace Potts; *During the 2nd over Katie Mack went for a 6th ball duck, bowled ‘leg-stump,’ with bails sent flying by Charis Pavely; *After 6 overs power-play, 27/2; *By mid-way 64/2; *Next ball, Emma Lamb ‘a crucial wicket’ fell for a ‘tame dismissal’ when caught at ‘mid-off’ by Hannah Baker, from Georgia Davis; *Main partnership between Ellie Threlkeld with opener Seren Smale added 58 runs until Ellie Threlkeld was caught by Charis Pavely, gaffed as Katie George who was bowling; *Sophie Ecclestone was short-lived, caught ‘impressively’ at ‘point’, by diving Davina Perrin, from Grace Potts; *Finally Kate Cross was ‘run-out’ by Charis Pavely, from Emily Arlott’s final ball; Top-scorer Seren Smale (England ‘A’) remained undefeated and carried her bat; *Thunder’s batting: Seren Smale 88*not out(61), Emma Lamb 25(28), Ellie Threlkeld 15(17);Sparks’ bowling: Grace Potts 2/18, Charis Pavely 1/15, Georgia Davis 1/22, Katie George 1/20;
*Spark’s innings: *stand-in skipper Georgia Davis, England ‘A’ (Eve Jones, concussion); *With Amy Jones (England) Grace Potts & Hannah Baker (England A); *Courtney Webb (Australia Big bash); Charis Pavely & Davina Perrin (England u-19s) & Ami Campbell; [*Ellie Threlkeld keeping wicket for Thunder]; *Left-handed Ami Campbell was caught aerial, ‘in the deep’ by Katie Mack (gaffed as Dani Collins) for a 4th-ball duck from Kate Cross; *During the 6th over, Davina Perrin was stumped by Ellie Threlkeld from Sophie Ecclestone coming around-the-wicket with her first delivery of the match; *After 6 overs power-play, 26/2 (vs27/2); *By mid-way 55/2 (vs64/2); *No further wickets fell; *Match-winning partnership between Abbey Freeborn and Amy Jones added 128 runs; *Brief hiatus during the penultimate over for keeper Ellie Threlkeld’s concussion-check; *As mentioned above, with tied-scores and needing to score ‘single’ to win, Amy Jones scored ‘four’ from the final ball. *Sparks’ batting: Amy Jones 67*not out(45), Abbey Freeborn 71*not out (57), Davina Perrin 10(15); *Thunder’s bowling: Kate Cross 1/19, Sophie Ecclestone 1/35;
*Match result: Central Sparks 150/2 (7.5 runs-per-over from 20/20 overs, target 147 from 20 ov.) beat Lancashire Thunder 146/6 (7.3 rpo from 20/20 ov.) by eight wickets
*Scorecard courtesy of ECB @url: https://www.ecb.co.uk/charlotte-edwards-cup/match-centre/104403#scorecard AppleMac users may need to scroll down on left margin to select a match
*Video highlights (50) courtesy of Central Sparks & powered by NV Play @url https://live.nvplay.com/ecb/#v6d172be8-8377-4267-9667-785a53eb43a0 & https://edgbaston.com/fixtures/womens/central-sparks-vs-thunder-friday-14th-june-2024/
*Full match free-to-air courtesy of Central Sparks (via NV Play, browse live-scores and highlights) on YouTube<03h03m35s> @url https://www.centralsparks.com/
