Source: Julian Thompson

Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy – match 52 –  Thunder vs  Blaze

  • +1

Lancashire Thunder vs The Blaze at Sale Cricket Club (Rookwood, Lancs) on 4 September 2024 (10h30)

Blaze remained in a ‘dominant position’ delivering a team-effort throughout the match, despite both best batter (Tara Norris) and best bowler (Fi Morris) coming from the losing-side. When Blaze batted, commentators lauded bowler Fi Morris (pictured) for a ‘fantastic display’ bagging a 6-fer (taking 6 wickets, conceding 35 runs); said to boost her total number of wickets taken in this year’s contest to 16. When Thunder batted, top-scorer Tara Norris was the only batter to score ‘fifty.’ Commentators recognised a ’turning point’ in Thunder’s fortunes when Tara Norris played her cameo partnered firstly by Grace Johnson then by Hannah Jones to stage an ‘extraordinary’ last wicket stand; inevitably handing victory to Blaze. Thunder are knocked-out, with one ‘dead rubber’ match remaining. Blaze leapfrog Sunrisers into a semi-final qualifying fourth-place. Commentator was Polly Starkie (‘HerGameToo’ regional cricket champion & social media co-host ‘Noughtie Child Podcast’) with co-commentator Faith Lawrence (for Lancs TV.) Weather: grey cloud cover, cool 16-18C.

*Blaze’s innings *Skipper Kirstie Gordon (England A) & Lucy Higham (England A); Josie Groves (England u19s) *With Kathryn Bryce, Sarah Bryce (Scotland) *With International players Orla Prendergast (Rep. of Ireland) & Michaela Kirk (Republic of South Africa) *Without Tammy Beaumont or Sarah Glenn (England), without Georgie Boyce or Teresa Graves; [*Ellie Threlkeld keeping wicket for Thunder]; *After 10 overs Power-play 49/0; *Cursed by commentators looking for a ‘crucial breakthrough’ of the opening partnership, Sarah Bryce went aerial, was caught by Phoebe Graham at ‘long-off’ from Darcey Carter; *Michaela Kirk was bowled ‘top-of-middle’ by Hannah Jones ‘who had a knack for taking wickets;’ *Marie Kelly was caught by keeper Ellie Threlkeld from Phoebe Graham (gaffed a moment earlier as Grace Johnson); *Drinks taken after 25 overs (mid-way) 105/3;*Kathryn Bryce was caught at ‘point’ by Tara Norris from Fi Morris; *’Looking to accelerate the strike-rate’, Orla Prendergast went ‘leg-before’ to Fi Morris, ‘in-line with middle stump;’ *Lucy Higham went ‘leg-before’ to Fi Morris, ‘having big impact;’ *Kirstie Gordon was caught at ‘extra cover’ by Eve Jones from Hannah Jones; *Ella Claridge was bowled with ‘flying bails,’ from Fi Morris; *Grace Ballinger went ‘leg-before’ to Fi Morris;

*Finally, following a ‘text-book’ four, Cassidy McCarthy was caught aerial, deep of ‘mid-wicket’ by Dani Collins from Fi Morris; *Blaze’s batting: Sarah Bryce 34(37), Kathryn Bryce 31(46), Orla Prendergast 29(34), Michaela Kirk 29(58), Ella Claridge 19(27), Josie Groves 10*not out (22); *Thunder’s bowling: Fi Morris 6/35, Hannah Jones 2/20, Phoebe Graham 1/39, Darcey Carter 1/48;

*Thunder’s innings: skipper Ellie Threlkeld; with Eve Jones (Sparks loan until end-of-season); Alice Clarke (u19s); debutante Darcey Carter (Scotland); Also Tara Norris (former US); *Without Sophie Ecclestone & Emma Lamb (England); [*Sarah Bryce keeping wicket for Blaze] *Left-hander Eve Jones ‘lofted’ to cover, caught by Kirstie Gordon’s ‘outstanding’ catch – candidate for ‘catch-of-the-tournament’, for a ninth-ball duck, from Grace Ballinger coming around the wicket; *An ‘avoidable’ dismissal when Alice Clarke was caught at ‘cover’ by Kathryn Bryce from Grace Ballinger; *After 10 overs Power-play 24/2 (vs49/0); *Next ball, Fi Morris was bowled by Grace Ballinger with bails sent flying; *’Quite a blow’ when ‘very good batter’ Dani Collins was bowled by ‘in-form Ballinger’ for a golden duck; *Seren Smale who was seen ‘limping’ after being struck was next ball, caught aerial at ‘extra cover’ by Michaela Kirk, from Orla Prendergast; *Ellie Threlkeld was caught by Lucy Higham, from Orla Prendergast; *Drinks taken on 79/6 (vs 105/3) by mid-way (25 overs); *With ‘quality bowling,’ Darcey Carter was bowled by Cassidy McCarthy; *31st over, Grace Johnson was caught aerial at ‘mid-on’ by Michaela Kirk from Josie Groves; *’Good disciplined spell’ rewarded when Phoebe Graham went ‘leg-before’ to Josie Groves; *’Extraordinary last-wicket stand’ ended when Hannah Jones was caught at ‘mid-off’ by Marie Kelly, from Kathryn Bryce;  *Thunder’s batting: Tara Norris 53*not out(56), Grace Johnson 27(47), Hannah Jones 17(41), Seren Smale 13(30), Darcey Carter 11(21), Fi Morris 10(14), Ellie Threlkeld 10(26); Blaze’s bowling:Grace Ballinger 4/23, Orla Prendergast 2/15, Josie Groves 2/27, Cassidy McCarthy 1/17, Kathryn Bryce 1/27;

*Match result: The Blaze 197/10 (@4.1 runs-per-over from 47/50 overs) beat Lancashire Thunder 173/10 (@3.7 r-p-o target 198 from 38/50 ov) by 24 runs

*Scorecard and video highlights when available courtesy of ECB (via NV Play) @url https://www.ecb.co.uk/rachael-heyhoe-flint-trophy/match-centre/104469#scorecard *AppleMac users may need to scroll down on left margin to select a match

*Full match free-to-air courtesy of Lancs TV (NV Play) via YouTube <06h47m29s> @url https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAffA_FUZaU

*Updated fixtures and results @url http://4theloveofsport.co.uk/2024/08/23/updated-rachael-heyhoe-flint-trophy-fixtures-and-results-2/

Tags:

Leave a Reply

Your e-mail address will not be published. Required fields are marked *