South East Stars vs Western Storm at Beckenham (The County Ground, Kent) on 31 August 2024 at 09h30
Playing on ‘one of best batting wickets in the country,’ Stars faced scoreboard pressure to win to qualify for the semi-finals. An astonishing match unfolded after Storm posted their second-highest score this season and Stars staged nothing short of a miraculous comeback. Scoring back-to-back ‘fifties’ and playing only her second match this season, Kira Chathli – pictured [86*not out(from 81 balls)] partnered by Ryana MacDonald-Gay chalked-up Stars’ record century sixth-wicket partnership; with Ryana MacDonald-Gay who hit the winning ’six’ to bring up her maiden ‘fifty.’ Both batters played career-best innings. Earlier, it looked like being a short match when both Storm openers were dismissed with only eight runs on-the-board. Tables were turned by a century third-wicket stand between skipper Sophie Luff partnered by Fran Wilson who each scored ‘fifties.’ Keeper-turned-batter Nat Wraith also scored ‘fifty.’ Early expectations for Stars power-hitters to make big scores were dashed when Bryony Smith was bowled by u-19 starlet Sophia Smale. Alice Davidson-Richards departed prematurely ’visibly furious with herself’ but Paige Scholfield scored 49, having recovered from last week’s leg injury. Leap-frogging Sunrisers into third-place behind Diamonds (who have a game-in-hand.) Commentators expected Stars to play their semi-final, returning to Beckenham on 14 September. Commentator sat inside a ‘well-anchored’ tent was Michael McCann (Sports journalist) with guest player Kirstie White (Stars.) Weather: cool with cloud cover, remaining overcast all day with a light-to-medium breeze 15C.
*Storm’s innings: skipper Sophie Luff with Sophia Smale, Chloe Skelton (England u19s), Ellie Anderson (England u19s loaned by Sparks); *International player Amanda-Jade Wellington (Aus) ‘arriving early this morning – travelling overnight from the Caribbean’ *Without Heather Knight, Lauren Filer, Danni Gibson (England) or Issy Wong; [*Kira Chathli keeping wicket for Sparks]; *Emma Corney chipped to ‘mid-wicket,’ caught by Phoebe Franklin from Tilly Corteen-Coleman, for a third-ball duck; *Next over, Sophia Smale was ‘visibly frustrated’ (‘who hit fifty in defeat, last Monday’) when left stranded and ‘run-out’ by Paige Scholfield’s throw to keeper Kira Chathli at the striker’s end, from Phoebe Franklin;*After 10 overs Power-play 43/2; *After 25 overs (mid-way) 124/2; *Top-scorer Fran Wilson made ‘fifty’ partnered by skipper Sophie Luff: the pair’s record sixth wicket century partnership added 135 runs; *Cursed by commentators with pressure starting to build, Sophie Luff’s leg-stump was flattened by Ryana MacDonald-Gay; *After chalking-up ‘fifty’ partnership with Nat Wraith from 45 balls, Fran Wilson ‘spooned to cow corner’ and was caught at ‘long-on’ by Paige Scholfield, from Kalea Moore; *Niamh Holland was caught between ‘long-on’ and ‘deep-mid-wicket’ by substitute fielder Emma Jones (for Aylish Cranstone), from Bryony Smith’s ‘full-toss’, *Having posted ‘more than 400 runs’ this season, Natasha ‘Nat’ Wraith ‘slog-swept’ aerial, caught by Ryana MacDonald-Gay from Kalea Moore; *Next over, Katie Jones was caught at ‘deep-square’ with ‘ease and precision’ by Phoebe Franklin from Bryony Smith coming round-the-wicket; *Amanda-Jade Wellington was caught aerial at ‘deep-square’ by Chloe Hill, from Phoebe Franklin, ‘at the second time of asking’; *Storm’s batting: Fran Wilson 81(92), Nat Wraith 68(53), Sophie Luff 58(94), Niamh Holland 11(15), Katie Jones 11(11) Alex Griffiths 10*not out (11); *Stars’ bowling: Bryony Smith 2/43, Kalea Moore 2/60, Tilly Corteen-Coleman 1/31, Phoebe Franklin 1/37, Ryana MacDonald-Gay 1/54;
*Stars’ innings: skipper Bryony Smith (England ‘A’) with Alice Davidson-Richards (England) Paige Scholfield (England ‘A’); Tilly Corteen-Coleman (u19’s), Chloe Hill (loaned by Vipers); Without Sophia Dunkley or Alice Capsey (both England) & without Alexa Stonehouse (u19s); [Katie Jones keeping wicket for Storm]; *Missing a ‘pull’ shot, Bryony Smith was bowled from a ‘low’ ball from Sophia Smale; *After 10 overs Power-play 50/1 (vs 43/2); *’Playing nicely,’ Chloe Hill was bowled by Alex Griffiths’ ‘nip-backer’ delivery*One short of ‘fifty,’ Paige Scholfield (lauded for her performance) was chopped-on to her stumps, bowled by Chloe Skelton; *’Looking solid,’ Alice Davidson-Richards played ‘across-the-line’ and was bowled by Niamh Holland; *After 25 overs (mid-way) 122/4 vs 124/2); *Phoebe Franklin spooned a ‘sitter’, caught at ‘mid-on’ by Sophie Luff, from Ellie Anderson’s ‘slower ball’; *As mentioned above, top-scorer Kira Chathli made ‘fifty’ partnered by Ryana MacDonald-Gay set new record sixth-wicket century partnership, adding 119 runs (101 balls) to win the match; *Stars’ batting: Kira Chathli 86*not out (81), Ryana MacDonald-Gay 51*not out (52), Paige Scholfield 49(54), Chloe Hill 31(34), Phoebe Franklin 26(21), Alice Davidson-Richards 19(28); *Storm’s bowling: Alex Griffiths 1/29, Chloe Skelton 1/36, Ellie Anderson 1/43, Sophia Smale 1/45, Niamh Holland 1/61;
*Match result: South East Stars 283/5 (@5.9 runs-per-over; target 283 from 47.2/50 overs) beat Western Storm 282/8 (@5.6 runs-per-over from 50/50 overs) by 5 wickets (with 16 balls remaining)
*Scorecard and video highlights when available courtesy of ECB (via NV Play) @url https://www.ecb.co.uk/rachael-heyhoe-flint-trophy/match-centre/104465#scorecard *AppleMac users may need to scroll down on left margin to select a match
*Full match free-to-air courtesy of South East Stars (NV Play) via YouTube <06h53m01s> @url https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8aOI0vtq-M
*Updated fixtures and results @url http://4theloveofsport.co.uk/2024/08/23/updated-rachael-heyhoe-flint-trophy-fixtures-and-results-2/
