Lancashire Thunder vs South East Stars
Stars as visitors chalked-up their fifth win, retaining fourth place after eight rounds. ‘Unstoppable’ Stars skipper Bryony Smith made top-score with ‘fifty’ [67 runs (from 71 balls).] Between what commentators described as ‘big’ and ‘key’ moments in the game, Paige Scholfield partnered by Aylish Cranstone added 68 runs during what turned out to be a match-winning partnership. After losing a pair of wickets, Stars tail-enders added another 62 runs, setting Thunder a ‘tall-order.’ Thunder lost three wickets (Emma Lamb, Katie Mack & Seren Smale) in quick succession to three wicket-keeper catches by Chloe Hill (pictured); followed by a fourth catch later in their innings (Dani Collins.) Coming round-the-wicket to left-handed batters, Ryana Macdonald-Gay [4-fer (seam)] and Kalea Moore [3-fer (spin)] bowled-out Thunder by a comfortable margin with 45 balls to spare. Taking two wickets in two balls (albeit with ‘wides’ in between) Ryana Macdonald-Gay is on a ‘hat-trick,’ next match. Tented commentators for ‘Lancs TV’ were Michael ‘Mike’ Perkins (Sports Journalist) and Polly Starkie (‘HerGameToo’ regional cricket champion & social media co-host ‘Noughtie Child Podcast.’) Weather began overcast, that became unexpectedly sunny after 40 overs with a light breeze seen disturbing papers inside the red commentator’s tent, 15C.
*Stars’ Innings *Skipper Bryony Smith (England A) with Alice Davidson-Richards (England); Ryana Macdonald-Gay & Paige Scholfield (both England ‘A’) Tilly Corteen-Coleman (England u-19s) & Alexa Stonehouse (former England u-19s) Without Alice Capsey (England call-up) *Without Georgia Redmayne (Australia big bash); Tash Farrant or Emma Jones; *[Ellie Threlkeld keeping wicket for Thunder]; *Kalea Moore lost her middle stump ‘flying,’ to Tara Norris, beefed-up by commentators moments beforehand; *After 10 overs Power-play 36/1; *’An important wicket,’ Alexa Stonehouse who steepled to mid-wicket, was caught by Kate Cross from Naomi Dattani; *Bryony Smith who played a skippers innings went aerial, caught at ‘deep backward-square’ by Dani Collins, from Fi Morris; *By mid-way (25ov) 119/3; *’Key moment’ when Alice Davidson-Richards was caught at ‘mid-on’ by Kate Cross, from Hannah Jones; *’Big moment’ when Paige Scholfield who Scored ‘fifty,’ lost her middle stump to Naomi Dattani; *Next over, Phoebe Franklin was caught brilliantly ‘in the deep’ by Naomi Dattani diving forward, from Hannah Jones; *Chloe Hill was caught by Naomi Dattani arriving from ‘long-on’, from Fi Morris; *Ryana Macdonald-Gay was caught at ‘point’ by Tara Norris from Sophie Morris; *Next over, coming down-the-wicket, Aylish Cranstone was stumped by Ellie Threlkeld from Hannah Jones; *Cursed with ‘batting not her forte,’ Tilly Corteen-Coleman was then stumped by Ellie Threlkeld from Sophie Morris with Stars ‘all out;’ *Stars’ batting Bryony Smith 67(71), Aylish Cranstone 43(45), Paige Scholfield 56(55), Alice Davidson-Richards 20(26), Ryana Macdonald-Gay 18(14); Alexa Stonehouse 23(40), Kalea Moore 13(26), Chloe Hill 11(11); *Thunder’s bowling: Hannah Jones 3/56, Naomi Dattani 2/35, Fi Morris 2/56, Sophie Morris 2/42, Tara Norris 1/54;
*Thunder’s innings *skipper Eleanor ‘Ellie’ Threlkeld; with Kate Cross & Emma Lamb (England), Seren Smale (England ‘A’), *Also with Katie Mack (Australia big-bash); *With Danni Collins, Hannah Jones & Sophie Morris; *Without Sophie Ecclestone (England call-up); *Without Mahika Gaur (England ‘A’) Ailsa Lister (Scotland), Phoebe Graham or Liberty ‘Libby’ Heap; [*Chloe Hill keeping wicket for Stars]; *’Dream start’ when Emma Lamb was caught from an ‘outside-edge’ by keeper Chloe Hill, from Phoebe Franklin for a 3rd ball duck; *Katie Mack was caught from a ‘thin-edge’ by keeper *Chloe Hill from Alexa Stonehouse’s out-swinger to ‘off-side’; *After 10 overs Power-play 46/2 (vs 36/1); *Seren Smale was caught by keeper Chloe Hill rolling ‘left-side’ from Ryana Macdonald-Gay’s in-swinger to ‘leg-side’; *By mid-way drinks, level-pegging on 114/3 (vs 119/3) with the run-rate ‘staring to drop’; *Fi Morris was caught at ‘deep mid-wicket’ by Phoebe Franklin from Ryana Macdonald-Gay’s ‘full-toss’; *’Almost out’ to Tilly Corteen-Coleman’s 2nd ball, Ellie Threlkeld was bowled by Kalea Moore with bails sent flying; *Two balls later, Dani Collins was caught by Chloe Hill from Kalea Moore coming around-the-wicket to the left-hander; *Naomi Dattani went ‘leg-before’ to Bryony Smith; *Next over Kate Cross was caught ‘in-the-covers’ by Phoebe Franklin from Kalea Moore; Tara Norris was bowled ‘top-of-middle’ with flying bails, from Ryana Macdonald-Gay coming around the wicket to the left-hander; *Following 5 ‘wides,’ Sophie Morris went ‘leg-before’ to Ryana Macdonald-Gay for a golden duck; *Thunder’s batting: Fi Morris 37(56), Ellie Threlkeld 37(59), Seren Smale 30(36), Hannah Jones 26*not out (26), Naomi Dattani 19(27), Tara Norris 14(17), Katie Mack 12(18), *Stars’ bowling: Ryana Macdonald-Gay 4/34, Kalea Moore 3/31, Phoebe Franklin 1/23, Alexa Stonehouse 1/23, Bryony Smith 1/18;
*Match result: South East Stars 283/10 (@5.6 runs-per-over from 49.4/50 overs) beat Lancashire Thunder 201/10 (@4.7 r-p-o from 42.3/50 overs; target 284 from 50/50 overs) by 82 runs;
*Scorecard courtesy of ECB @url https://www.ecb.co.uk/rachael-heyhoe-flint-trophy/match-centre/104448#scorecard/ AppleMac users may need to scroll down on left margin to select a match
*Video highlights (79) courtesy of Lancs TV & powered by NV Play @url https://live.nvplay.com/ecb/#v5884edf1-4b3c-43ca-ac0d-1d95aec8803b
*Full match free-to-air courtesy of Lancs TV with introduction by David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd and Alex Hartley <07h28m28s> @url https://www.facebook.com/LancashireCricketOfficial/videos/961409895668744/
*Updated fixtures and results @url http://4theloveofsport.co.uk/2024/05/12/updated-rachael-heyhoe-flint-trophy-fixtures-and-results/
