Thunder v Stars
16th August 2017
* Stars won the toss and elected to bat
* Both teams at full strength - Taylor & Cross in for Thunder and Lee for Stars
* No joy for Lee though as she goes for a 🦆 in the first over
* But Tammy Beaumont looks in ominous form - Stars get to 43/1 after 5 overs and Beaumont has 34 of them.
* 50/1 after the 6 powerplay overs
* 7th over is Ecclestone's and she frustrates Marizanne Kapp into top edging to backward square - 52/2
* Make that 53/3 as Beaumont (36) chips Hazell to midwicket.
* Halfway and Stars are 61/4 with Bryony Smith lbw to Hazell for 1.
* First ball of the 15th over and Taylor stumps Marsh off Jonassen for 11. Stars in danger of subsiding here - 79/5
* But Stars end up getting 33 off the last three overs through Nat Sciver (40*) and Sophia Dunkley (24), who batted very well.
* Stars finish on 133/6. Looks slightly below par score, but gives them more than they hoped five overs out.
****
* 4 off the first over and then 10 off the second from Kapp - 14/0 after 2 overs - nice start.
* But Lamb is lbw next over - 14/1
* Thunder get to 32/1 after the powerplay - even stephens
* 9th over and Jones (26) is given out lbw sweeping at Hartley (looked legside-ish). Thunder 47/2
* At halfway point Thunder are 62/2 and need 72 off last 10 overs - Taylor and Satterthwaite at the crease. Game on.
* 69/2 after 11 overs, but Satterthwaite is bowled by Farrell in the next over - 75/3. Taylor now the key.
* And two overs later she is gone, paddling Farrell to short fine leg. Excellent 34, but Thunder needed more. Her wicket in fact sparks a hideous collapse. Thunder 86/4
* Threlkeld is stumped first ball 86/5; Jonassen is well caught by Lee 91/6; Hazell paddles to fine leg 91/7; Ecclestone misses a full toss and is lbw 91/8 - 5 wickets for 5 runs
* It's game over but 106 is the bonus point target. Lancs fail to make it as they are bowled out for 100, with Farrell taking the last wicket with a diving return catch off her own bowling to take 5/26.
* Stars win by 33 runs and take 5 points
Link to full scorecard
Video highlights link
Current table looks like this
MD
16/VIII/17
I've seen all the sides play now, and can say with fair confidence that Vipers and Stars look the strongest 2 sides. They are both relentless with bat and ball – they never let up the pressure and never give up when things look tough either.
ReplyDeleteStars were quite impressive today I thought. Their total was not a bad one, near par I think, maybe 5-10 runs short, but 130+ always gives you a chance, especially with their bowling attack. The pitch got a bit more tired as the day went on but the fact that the Worcester men's side only scored 127 should tell you that 133 was not bad. Not long ago women's sides outscoring men's would have been almost unthinkable – I know the boundaries were shorter, but even so it's quite a change.
Unfortunately for Thunder after a positive start they lost wickets and once they neared 100, totally fell away. Jonassen and Sattherthwaite are yet to really produce with the bat and it's costing Thunder. Their batting line-up, even with Taylor, looks a little short without those 2 in form. Stars were good again in the field, they're only using the 5 bowlers so far but what a 5 they are! They may need to give Dunkley a go with her spinners at some stage. It's the first time I'd seen Dunkley bat though and she looks incredibly dynamic, with plenty of good foot movement, strong wrists and likes that “whippage” as they say! A real prospect. And it was Farrell's day, she's still a very good T20 bowler , a canny operator, and as a bonus can bat a bit too.
I'm loving this KSL but now the main TV matches are over until finals day, it might go off some people's radar. Still, I'm looking forward to Vipers-Stars on Sunday, it should be a great match between the 2 best sides so far – as long as that pesky Southampton pitch doesn't have too much of a say!