Southern Vipers vs Sunrisers at Southampton, East (Utilita Bowl) on 7 September 2024 (10h30)
Commentators billed a ‘must-win’ match for Sunrisers to knock-out Blaze and qualify for a semi-final place. By contrast, Vipers had suffered at least three back-to-back defeats and were still playing without their England players. Vipers had already amassed sufficient points to qualify for a semi-final place. Batting first Sunrisers played one of their best innings all season, reaching 111/2 by mid-way. Two batters posted ‘fifties:’ Cordelia Griffith – pictured [55runs (from 68 balls)]; and Lissy MacLeod 53(39.) Four more batters made useful contributions toward Sunrisers’ competitive score. For Vipers, Naomi Dattani bagged her maiden five-wicket haul. Following lunch, at least two hours were lost to rain with another ten overs needed for a result. When play resumed, Umpires docked forty overs from Viper’s innings, setting a reduced target set of 94 runs from ten overs; according to the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method. Starting the final over, commentators conceded victory to Sunrisers who indeed defended 13 runs from five balls to win the match.
Separately commentators lauded Vipers for scoring more than 76 runs, to support Vipers’ semi-final match versus South East Stars; rather than travel long-distance for (what could have been) Vipers’ semi-final match versus Northern Diamonds at Headingley. As defending champions Vipers seek their fourth title in five years. Commentators from BBC sport were Kevan ‘Kev’ James (radio Solent) with Phill Green (Hursley Park) and guest Charlotte Taylor (Vipers player.) Weather was described initially as ‘very cloudy,’ evolving into heavy rain that caused a lengthy delay between each innings.
*Sunrisers’ Innings: skipper Grace Scrivens (England ‘A’), Jodi Grewcock (England u-19s), Abtaha Maqsood (Scotland) replacing Mady Villiers (England); [*Rhianna Southby keeping wicket for Vipers]; *Grace Scrivens was caught at ‘backward point’ by Abi Norgrove, from Naomi Dattani; *After 10 overs Power-play 53/0 *Jo Gardner was bowled with ‘off-stump’ flattened, by Naomi Dattani; *After 25 overs on 111/2; *Jodi Grewcock took a ‘big stride’ to go ‘leg-before’ to Naomi Dattani; *Next over, Cordelia Griffith overbalanced and was stumped by keeper Rhianna Southby, from Ava Lee; *Eva Gray ‘pushed forward’ bowled by Naomi Dattani’s delivery that ‘kept low’; *Playing an ‘important innings,’ Alice ‘Lissy’ MacLeod was caught by Rebecca ‘Rea’ Tyson, from Georgia Adams; *Next ball, Amara Carr swept ‘without connection’ to go ‘leg-before’ to Georgia Adams, for a golden duck; *Flo Miller was caught at ‘deep-backward-square’ by Ella McCaughan, from Naomi Dattani; *Kate Coppack was ‘run-out’ at the non-striker’s end by Nancy Harman’s throw to Ava Lee; *Short of a second run from the final ball, Abtaha Maqsood was ‘run-out’ by Emily Windsor’s throw to Rhianna Southby; *Sunrisers’ batting: Cordelia Griffith 55(68), Lissy MacLeod 53(39), Florence ‘Flo’ Miller 41(31), Jodi Grewcock 37(51), Grace Scrivens 35(50) Jo Gardner 27(44); *Vipers’ bowling: Naomi Dattani 5/51, Georgia Adams 2/46, Ava Lee 1/40;
*Vipers’ Innings skipper Georgia Adams (England ‘A’), with Freya Davies (England); *Also with Ava Lee, Abi Norgrove & Mary Taylor (England u-19s) Rebecca ‘Rea’ Tyson & Naomi Dattani; *Without Linsey Smith (England ‘A’) or Georgia Elwiss; [*Amara Carr keeping wicket for Sunrisers]; *Play restarted at 17h17, with a reduced target set – as mentioned above; *Rhianna Southby was caught by Jodi Grewcock bowled by Eva Gray; *Next over, Ella McCaughan was caught by Jodi Grewcock bowled by Kate Coppack; *Naomi Dattani was caught by Lissy MacLeod bowled by Jodi Grewcock; *Two balls later, Georgia Adams was ‘run-out’ at the non-striker’s end by Kate Coppack; *Nancy Harman was caught by Sophie Munro from Eva Gray; *Next over, Abi Norgrove was ‘run-out’ at the non-striker’s end by Flo Miller, from Jodi Grewcock’s ‘wide’ ball; *Emily Windsor was caught by Eva Gray, from Sophie Munro; *Freya Davies was caught behind from a ‘top-edge’ by keeper Amara Carr, from Grace Scrivens; *After ten overs elapsed, the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method was applied; *Vipers’ batting: Ella McCaughan 15(10), Nancy Harman 15(12), Emily Windsor 12(12);*Sunrisers’ bowling: Eva Gray 2/22, Sophie Munro 1/10, Jodi Grewcock 1/14, Grace Scrivens 1/17 Kate Coppack 1/21;
*Match result: Sunrisers 281/10 (@5.6 runs-per-over from 50/50 overs) beat Southern Vipers 88/8 (@8.8 r-p-o target 94 runs from 10/10 overs) by 5 runs; Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method
*Scorecard and video highlights when available courtesy of ECB (via NV Play) @url https://www.ecb.co.uk/rachael-heyhoe-flint-trophy/match-centre/104470#scorecard
*Full match free-to-air courtesy of Southern Vipers (NV Play) via YouTube <07h51m56s> @url https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t__OF2-fJL4
*Semi-final match 1 starting at 10h30 on 14 September: Northern Diamonds vs Sunrisers at Headingley @url https://www.ecb.co.uk/rachael-heyhoe-flint-trophy/match-centre/110056#overview
*Semi-final match 2 starting at 10h30 on 14 September: South East Stars vs Southern Vipers at Beckenham @url https://www.ecb.co.uk/rachael-heyhoe-flint-trophy/match-centre/110075#overview
