Central Sparks vs South East Stars at Birmingham (South-East) at Moseley Cricket Club, Shirley on 4 September 2024 (10h30)
Stars cemented their place in the semi-finals by beating a depleted Sparks side. Unusually, both sides were led by wicket-keepers who stepped-up as stand-in skippers. Stand-in skipper Kira Chathli (pictured) [80runs (from 78 balls)] made her third back-to-back fifty. Partnered by Alice Davidson-Richards 71(from 68) the pair added 127 runs, taking Stars past the 200-marker. By contrast, three Sparks batters scored 50’s. Firstly, Davina Perrin, followed by spirited resistance from Bethan Ellis and Chloe Brewer who both made career-best 50’s. Pivotal moment when Tilly Corteen-Coleman replaced Phoebe Franklin mid-over. Next over, Tilly Corteen-Coleman’s first ball saw Charis Pavely was ‘run-out’ after sweeping, setting-off late and diving fruitlessly. Keeper Kira Chathli re-directed the ball down-wicket and Tilly Corteen-Coleman nonchalantly broke the stumps. Thereafter, Sparks faced an escalating run-rate beyond two-runs-per-ball for the final two overs. Second-placed Stars have one group-stage match remaining (at time of writing); expected to play their semi-final at Beckenham. Weather was cool as elsewhere, 16-18C.
*Stars’ innings: skipper Kira Chathli with Alice Davidson-Richards (England) Paige Scholfield (England ‘A’); Alexa Stonehouse & Tilly Corteen-Coleman (u19’s), Chloe Hill (Vipers loan); debutante Priyanaz Chatterji, without Sophia Dunkley or Alice Capsey (both England) without Bryony Smith, Paige Scholfield & Ryana MacDonald-Ga (England ‘A’) [Abbey Freeborn keeping wicket for Sparks] *Chloe Hill was bowled by Katie George; *After 10 overs Power-play 39/1; *Phoebe Franklin was caught aerial at ‘extra cover’ by Emily ‘Em’ Arlott from Bethan Ellis; *Finding Charis Pavely unplayable, Alexa Stonehouse was bowled ‘top-of-middle’ with bails flying, four balls later; *After 25 overs (mid-way) 110/3; Main partnership 127 between Alice Davidson-Richards and Kira Chathli, saw Stars past 200 runs; *Alice Davidson-Richards was caught at ‘deep-mid-on’ by Chloe Brewer from left-armer Katie George; *With 8 overs remaining, Aylish Cranstone went ‘leg-before’ to Katie George; *Two balls later, Emma Jones played-on, sending bails flying from Katie George for a second-ball duck; *Next over, Kalea Moore swept across-the-line, but was bowled by Ria Fackrell for a third-ball duck; *Top-scorer Kira Chathli who played a skipper’s innings scoring her third back-to-back ‘fifty,’ was caught at ‘deep-mid-wicket’ by Charis Pavely, from Grace Potts; *Dani Gregory went ‘leg-before’ to Charis Pavely; *Two balls later, Tilly Corteen-Coleman was caught-and-bowled by Charis Pavely, for a second-ball duck from the penultimate innings ball; *Stars’ batting: Kira Chathli 80(78), Alice Davidson-Richards 71(68), Phoebe Franklin 37(45), Alexa Stonehouse 26(51), Priyanaz ‘Priya’ Chatterji 17*not out(18), Aylish Cranstone 16(18); *Sparks’ bowling: Katie George 4/47, Charis Pavely 3/37, Grace Potts 1/22, Ria Fackrell 1/53, Bethan Ellis 1/60;
*Sparks’ innings: skipper Abbey Freeborn with Charis Pavely & Davina Perrin (England u19s) debutante Meg Austin; *Without Amy Jones (England) Eve Jones or Hannah Baker (both England ‘A’) or Georgia Davis; [*Kira Chathli keeping wicket for Stars]; *Ami Campbell was caught ‘in-the-deep’ by Dani Gregory from Tilly Corteen-Coleman; *Debutante Meg Austin went for a ‘carbon-copy’ dismissal, caught by Priyanaz ‘Priya’ Chatterji; *After 10 overs Power-play 44/2 (vs39/1); *Abbey Freeborn was caught behind by fellow keeper-turned-skipper Kira Chathli, from Phoebe Franklin; *Katie George was caught at ‘mid-wicket’ by Phoebe Franklin from Priya Chatterji ;*Davina Perrin who scored ‘fifty’ was caught at ‘deep-mid-wicket’ by Phoebe Franklin, from Dani Gregory; *After 25 overs on 125/5 (vs110/3); *Chloe Brewer was caught at ‘deep-mid-wicket’ by Alice Davidson-Richards, from Alexa Stonehouse; *As mentioned above, Charis Pavely was ‘run-out’ by keeper Kira Chathli’s throw to bowler Tilly Corteen-Coleman who removed the bails at the non-striker’s end. *Bethan Ellis was bowled ‘through-the-gate’ by Alexa Stonehouse; *Five balls later, Emily Arlott was bowled by Alexa Stonehouse; *Closing twenty runs short of their target, Ria Fackrell & Grace Potts remained ‘not out;’ *Sparks’ batting: Bethan Ellis 57(83), Chloe Brewer 54(85), Davina Perrin 50(51), Meg Austin 14(16), Abbey Freeborn 14(18) Charis Pavely 12(16); *Stars’ bowling: Alexa Stonehouse 3/37, Tilly Corteen-Coleman 2/33, Priyanaz ‘Priya’ Chatterji 1/28, Danielle ‘Dani’ Gregory 1/36, Phoebe Franklin 1/47;
*Match result: South East Stars 270/10 (@5.4 runs-per-over from 49.5/50 overs) beat Central Sparks 250/9 (@5.0 r-p-o target 271 from 38/50 ov) by 20 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/109769#scorecard *AppleMac users may need to scroll down on left margin to select a match; Otherwise courtesy of Central Sparks @url https://edgbaston.com/fixtures/womens/central-sparks-vs-south-east-stars-wednesday-4th-september-2024/ or Stars @url https://www.southeaststars.com/matches/central-sparks-rhft-4th-september-2024/
*Match free-to-air courtesy of Central Sparks (NV Play) without commentary via YouTube <06h21m40s> @url https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cQ-SGdkvrY
*Updated fixtures and results @url http://4theloveofsport.co.uk/2024/08/23/updated-rachael-heyhoe-flint-trophy-fixtures-and-results-2/
*Footnote: Certain non-UK sources may have misreported this result. NV Play video & ECB scorecard are together referenced above – as authoritative sources.
