Jake Perry reports

Netherlands 184-4 (SL Kalis 88, S Ramautar 1 for 26) beat USA 148-5 (OT Wallerson 40*, L Klokgieters 2 for 32) by 36 runs

To the accompanying strain of bagpipes as the annual Stirling Highland Games got underway nearby the much-anticipated encounter between USA and the Netherlands at the ICC Women’s World T20 Europe/Americas Qualifier finally played out. It was a game which had taken on added significance as defeat to Scotland then the weather had ensured that the quest for the one remaining place at the Global Qualifier for the 2018 showpiece would become a winner-takes-all affair.

A superb 88 from Netherlands all-rounder Sterre Kalis was to propel her side to a 36-run victory as despite a late flourish from Onika Wallerson the rawness of the USA was to show in an inconsistent display in the field. Kalis chipped in with a wicket, too, as a much-improved performance from Sean Trouw’s team put their loss to the Scots earlier in the week behind them.

After two days without play the second reserve day had offered one last opportunity to complete the four matches required to constitute a tournament, and after the original pitch had been deemed unplayable a decision was taken late on Thursday to switch the remaining games to the second pitch at New Williamfield. Thanks to the Stirling County ground staff play began only half an hour behind schedule but with rain beginning to fall once more conditions on the field remained highly challenging.

Having been put into bat the Netherlands openers Kalis and Babette de Leede made a skittish start against the USA seamers as de Leede was dropped at point before a run-out opportunity was missed as Candacy Atkins slipped on the greasy surface. The two were soon into their stride, however, with Kalis helping herself to back-to-back boundaries off Neha Anand and de Leede finding the rope off Triholder Marshall.

Although Marshall was to have the final word as de Leede’s swing-and-miss saw her bowled for 17 the Netherlands were looking ominous, however, and Kalis hit the first maximum of the tournament by hoisting Wallerson over square. The opener added another as she raced past fifty, and with Cher van Slobbe (14) and then Heather Siegers providing support aggressive running and regular boundaries saw the Netherlands pass 150 at the beginning of the 18th over.

Kalis had played a terrific knock, fully deserving of a hundred, but immediately after striking her fourth six of the innings a mix-up with Siegers ended with her run out. Kalis’s 55 ball 88 had given her side the platform they had so badly lacked against Scotland,though, and with the young Dutch captain (51*) reaching her half century too, the Netherlands total of 184-4 always looked like too many.

It had been a difficult morning for the USA. Dropped catches and misfields had proved costly and with spinner Claudine Beckford overstepping three times in a final over which cost 21, too, Sindhu Sriharsa’s side left the field knowing that they had not helped their own cause.

The Netherlands bowling attack had hardly aided theirs against Scotland, though, and USA opener Shebani Bhaskar immediately signaled her attacking intentions with a six off the second ball. Early American hopes were dashed as the Netherlands quickly struck back with a double breakthrough, however, as first Bhaskar (8) was brilliantly caught by Helmien Rambaldo before a diving Sriharsa (1) was narrowly run out as the Dutch remained firmly in control.

At 18-2 Nadia Gruny and Erica Rendler picked up the chase well, taking their side beyond fifty at the end of the Powerplay – and ahead of their opponents at the same stage – but when they also fell in quick succession, Rendler (40) run out before Gruny (30) skied to the wicketkeeper, any lingering hopes of an American comeback had been dashed.

“I am really proud of the team and that we did it today,” said Player of the Match Sterre Kalis.

“It was the most important game for us and that we won it was perfect.”

“In the beginning the pitch was very soft and a bit wet but the ground staff did really well. After a whole week of rain it was amazing that we could play the game and we’re hoping to end the tournament with another good performance against Scotland later.”

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Jake Perry writes on Scottish cricket for Cricket Scotland and CricketEurope and is a regular contributor to HoldingWilley.

Twitter: @jperry_cricket / Facebook: Jake Perry Cricket

Diamonds bt. Lightning by 17 runs (Report)

Chamari Atapattu

In the space of an English summer, the Sri Lankan has gone from Atapat-who to Atapat-woo! After hitting the biggest innings of the World Cup – 178* against Australia – and finishing the tournament with an average of over 50, she is now bringing some really classy batting to the Super League. She is quite a traditional player, and you won’t catch her ramping or reverse sweeping, so she is maybe missing out behind the wicket; but she is making her game work for her so far, and it is hard to argue with the runs she is scoring in KSL (107) or the Strike Rate at which she is scoring them (130).

Katherine Brunt

I’ve been reluctant to call her an “all-rounder” but who has the highest Strike Rate in KSL so far? Suzie Bates? Nat Sciver? Nope – it’s Katherine Brunt, with 77 runs at 197! And it would have been more yesterday, if not for a very dodgy call from Atapattu, who was on 49 at the time and desperate to get to her 50. Brunt then opened the bowling, and took 2-2 in the powerplay. And they were “proper” wickets too – Jones bowled and Perry LBW – not cheap “caught at cow corners”.

The Toss

Lightning won the toss and put the Diamonds in. With weather around, the potential advantage is that you know exactly what you’ve got to do in a Duckworth-Lewis situation in the second innings. But in a game which had already been shortened by a third, it is a risky move too. With less overs to get through, the team batting first can really go for it – wickets hardly matter – and consequently in the reply, the required run-rate always looks bigger than it perhaps actually is.

Not only that, but just a couple of low-scoring  overs early-on can really pile on the psychological pressure as the rate starts to climb, and this is what we saw here: the required rate started at 8.5; but after two overs of Katherine Brunt it was closing-in on 10, even though Davidson-Richards had been hit for 11 in the over in-between. Georgia Elwiss gave it her best shot, hitting 41 off 28 balls; but once Villani was out, there was really no chance – Thea Brookes and Sonia Odedra are good players, but not 10-an-over players, and so it proved with the Lightning ending more than a run-an-over short.

In a game reduced to 13 overs per side, after the match was delayed by an hour and a half due to a torrential downpour at Loughborough just before the scheduled start time, Yorkshire Diamonds came out on top thanks to a superb all-round performance by their overseas Chamari Atapattu.

After two losses leading up to this fixture, the Lightning nevertheless opted to go unchanged; whilst Yorkshire were able to bring back Jenny Gunn for Katie Thompson.

Batting first after being put in, the Diamonds got off to a good start as Chamari Atapattu and Lauren Winfield raced to 25, before Winfield was caught on the square boundary by Beth Langston off Sonia Odedra.

This brought Sophie Devine to the crease, who struggled as she looked to drive, but couldn’t get past mid on/ mid off, and was eventually bowled for 2 off 9 balls, missing a straight one from Georgia Elwiss.

Meanwhile Atapattu continued to play classily all around the wicket, including a couple of big sixes down the ground. She got a little nervous in the 40s – she was dropped by Langston on 47 off Perry, and then managed to run out Katherine Brunt when she was on 49, as she bunted Kristen Beams into the on side and called for the run but only ended up running out Brunt, who had been looking good for a rapid 21.

With the overs closing in, Alice Davidson-Richards tried to play a bit too expansively early-doors to Beams and was bowled for 1 off two balls. Jenny Gunn lasted just one ball longer – hanging out her bat to try to run Beth Langston down to third man, she ended up bowled in a rather sheepish fashion by her England colleague.

But Atapattu continued to push calmly on, eventually finishing on to 66 not out off 40 balls, with nine 4s and two 6s, as Yorkshire closed on 110-5.

The Lightning reply began with a stutter, as Katherine Brunt bowled Amy Jones off the last ball of the first over for 2 with the total on 2; but 11 runs off the second over from Davidson Richards got things going for the Lightning.

However, Brunt struck again with her very next ball at the start of the third over – Ellyse Perry unimpressed to be given out LBW, though the analyst cam in the press box suggested it was good decision. Georgia Elwiss saw off the hat trick ball but there was just 1 off the over from there and the ball was back in the Diamond’s court once again.

Atapattu bowled Elyse Villani with her first ball – a slow, languid delivery which Villani found herself on to too quickly; and Sophie Devine soon joined the party, tempting Thea Brookes into a big shot which only found Lauren Winfield at deep mid off, leaving the Lighting in some trouble at 31-4.

Elwiss finally took the fight back to the Diamonds, hitting 16 off the 10th over bowled by Jenny Gunn; but with Lightning needing another big over, Katie Levick held her nerve, going for just 7 despite some big swooshes, and there was no way back for the Lightning from there, especially when they lost Elwiss for 41, well caught by Maddie Walsh off Atapattu – the Sri Lankan finishing with 2-11 as the Diamonds closed well short on 93-5.

Afterwards Sophie Devine was full of praise for Chamari Atapattu:

“She has been fantastic – to think that she only got brought in last minute – to do the job she has done is a credit to her – we all knew how well she played in the World Cup, and she’s just continued that on. Her strength is to play in the ‘V’ and to play straight, and she showed that today – it doesn’t matter who the bowler is or what the field is – if she backs herself she’ll be able to execute.”

The result puts the Diamonds back on course for Finals Day, but leaves the Lightning all-but out of it now, with 3 losses.

Southern Stars skipper Meg “Megastar” Lanning will miss the entire Australian season, including the Women’s Ashes this October/ November, after having undergone an operation on her right shoulder.

The shoulder troubled Lanning throughout the recent World Cup, and it was clearly only a matter when, not if, she had the surgery.

Team physio Kate Mahony said:

“Meg underwent surgery earlier this week and we expect that she will require a long rehabilitation period of 6-8 months.”

It will be interesting to see who captain’s Australia during the Ashes – Alex Blackwell, the official vice-captain, was overlooked when Lanning sat out of a couple of games at the World Cup, in favour of Rachael Haynes, even though Haynes can’t hold a place in the side on merit – the only matches she played were the ones she captained.

Coach Matthew Mott said at the time that Haynes was “a captain of the future” but she is 30 – 5 years older than Lanning – so that would presumably be a future where Cricket Australia have invented a time machine!

The more prosaic truth seems to be that Blackwell has fallen out of favour and Mott didn’t want to create a “line of succession” or cause ill-feeling between the younger players by nominating one over another; but that might now be a call circumstances will force him to take.

Martin Saxon reports

Surrey Stars comfortably made it two wins from two, and look in fine shape going into the business end of the Kia Super League competition. Lancashire Thunder however will almost certainly need to win all three remaining matches to reach Finals Day after collapsing to a second defeat.

Many observers had tipped the Thunder for bigger things this year. However, most of their elite players are bowlers once again – Sophie Ecclestone, Danni Hazell, Kate Cross and Lea Tahuhu. Jess Jonassen is of course a more than capable batsman, but may not score fast enough for T20, leaving Sarah Taylor and Amy Satterthwaite to shoulder a large burden.

The Stars meanwhile look much more solid, with an experienced bowling attack complementing a powerful top four of Tammy Beaumont, Lizelle Lee, Marizanne Kapp and Nat Sciver.

Indeed, the period when Taylor and Satterthwaite were batting together was the only stage at which a home victory looked likely. Taylor in particular looked in fine form, but her wish to play a shot off every ball ultimately proved her downfall. At this stage, the required rate did not call for all-out attack, but after striking the first ball of a Rene Farrell over for four, Taylor still felt the need to play the ramp shot to the second delivery, and duly perished for 34 in doing so.

From 75-2 and 86-3, the Thunder’s collapse to 100 all out was a sorry tale indeed, and in no way could it be described as a good advert for elite women’s cricket. Farrell finished with 5-26, Laura Marsh with 2-12 and Alex Hartley 2-25. There was a fine catch by Lee during the collapse, then an even better take from Farrell off her own bowling to wrap things up.

The Stars had already posted a total of 133, thanks to a glut of runs early and late in the innings. Beaumont looked in ominous form as she led the way in her side scoring 50 in the six-over powerplay. Having the ‘fastest bowler in women’s cricket’ is proving more of a curse than a blessing for Thunder, for whom Tahuhu was once again wayward and expensive.

Although Ecclestone conceded only two in the seventh over, and picked up a wicket, this meant that Sciver joined Beaumont at the crease – a powerful combination by any measure. However, Beaumont was duly dismissed by Hazell for 36 in the next over. This heralded a period when the Thunder were on top, with the run rate for the period between the 7th and 16th overs barely rising above four. For all their weaknesses in other areas, the Thunder undoubtedly have a fine spin attack, with Hazell finishing with figures of 2-16 and Ecclestone a return of 1-19.

However, all that changed when the run rate increased to ten per over for the final four overs, as Sciver (40*) and Sophia Dunkley (24*) pressed the accelerator. Their efforts were more than enough to take the game away from the home side.

Emerging players watch

Dunkley played a vital role in the Stars’ acceleration in the closing overs. Evelyn Jones made 26 from 28 deliveries, with five fours, opening up for the Thunder, playing some genuinely good cricket shots rather than the usual T20 mix of big hitting and improvisation. Less positively, every bowler used in this match was already a fully capped international.

In light of this match, I am aware that comments have already been made about this issue on this site. Some players must know going into the match that they won’t be bowling, and will only be batting if their side lose a lot of wickets – this probably applied to Natasha Miles on the Thunder side and Grace Gibbs and Hannah Jones for the Stars. Quite apart from the issue of it being disheartening for the players themselves, it’s also far from ideal for their family and friends, who may have travelled significant distances and taken time off work to watch their loved ones in what should be ‘the biggest game of their lives’.

In this respect, having six teams leaves us somewhere between a rock and a hard place. Either you reduce the teams to four, and make it more of an elite competition that better showcases women’s cricket; or you have eight or nine teams, cut the England and overseas representation in each squad to two and force teams to make more use of some of their non-international players. Only in the latter case could the Super League really be said to be ‘bridging the gap’.

The match experience

Inevitably, when the match began at 2.30, a small crowd was scattered around the cavernous Old Trafford arena – all part of the trade-off that is apparently necessary to get these matches on television. Regular watchers of Lancashire CCC did comment however that the ground looked fuller than for many weekday men’s county championship fixtures.

The 90-minute gap between the women’s and men’s matches seemed almost interminable.

An on-field interview with Taylor and Hazell was broadcast on the big screen just before the men’s match commenced, and the pair did show off the World Cup trophy during that item. However, surely a trick was missed by not allowing the two players to do a full lap of the ground with the trophy?

@MartinSaxon

Jake Perry reports

Scotland’s place at the ICC Women’s World T20 Global Qualifier was confirmed as heavy rain thwarted hopes of completing the first round of matches at the Europe/Americas Qualifier in Stirling. Having beaten USA for their second win of the tournament on Wednesday morning, the cancellation of USA v Netherlands in the afternoon meant that with four points already secured and two spots in the next phase available Abbi Aitken’s side could finish in second place at worst.

Whilst the news rubber-stamped what had already appeared inevitable thanks to two clinical performances from the Scots the returning rain was the last thing that their opponents needed to see. After both had struggled against the hosts their two games against each other were likely to prove decisive, and now, unless an extra gear or two can be found for the second round, the destination of the remaining qualification berth is likely to rest on the outcome of a single match as Netherlands and USA finally get to play each other on Thursday afternoon.

In their matches against Scotland both sides had been left to rue below-par performances in the first inings. The Netherlands, having been put in to bat in the opening match, struggled to pierce the field in the early stages and relied on Heather Siegers and Helmein Rambaldo at four and five to get them up to a reasonable total. Without boundaries at the top of the order, however, the Dutch were always swimming against the tide, and Lorna Jack and Kathryn Bryce quickly batted them out of the game when Scotland replied.

The USA top order struggled against Scotland’s bowlers, too, and after posting only 19 in the Powerplay the Americans looked to captain Sindhu Sriharsha and half-centurion Shebani Bhaskar to get them out of trouble. The tactical inexperience of USA was to prove telling too, however. Sriharsha’s decision to come in at four, sending Onika Wallerson in at three, was intended to give the big-hitting Wallerson an opportunity to kick-start the innings, but when in practice the opposite happened as Wallerson alternated scampered singles with swings-and-misses, 28 deliveries had been consumed for her 11. By the time Sriharsha replaced her thirteen overs had passed by with only 48 runs to show for it, and although she and Bhaskar fought well, the damage had already been done.

Once again it was the performance of the Scotland openers that showed the way as Jack and Bryce looked to manoeuvre the ball into gaps rather than go for the all-or-nothing hoo-hah, and with loose deliveries to punish, too, the platform they built put the game beyond the reach of their opponents.

But for all that it is the Netherlands who are nursing perhaps the biggest headache of all. Whilst Tuesday’s performance with the bat had been mixed, with the ball it had been little short of disastrous. Siegers was to go through eight bowlers as with a string of full tosses, long hops and leg-side freebies the very definition of buffet bowling was served.

With so few runs to defend the game quickly slipped away as Scotland duly feasted, and, whatever else may happen in the remainder of the tournament, against a USA side keen to impress the Netherlands cannot afford such generosity a second time.

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Jake Perry writes on Scottish cricket for Cricket Scotland and CricketEurope and is a regular contributor to HoldingWilley.

Twitter: @jperry_cricket / Facebook: Jake Perry Cricket

Stars bt. Thunder by 33 runs

First We Take Manhattan

The 5-Over Manhattan shows where the game was won and lost. The Stars had the better of the powerplay, but the Thunder really pulled it back and were actually ahead after 15 overs – 91 to 86 – but the scoreboard pressure created by the Stars’ big final quarter really told, and the Thunder ended up bowled-out as they tried to chase the runs.

Sophia Dunkley

The Stars big final quarter was very-much down to Sophia Dunkley, who hit 24 off 17 balls, ensuring that Nat Sciver – 40 off 36 at the other end – didn’t have to farm the strike. Dunkley and Sciver between them made every ball count, turning a par effort into a good score by running hard between the wickets – the vast majority of the runs in their 54-run partnership coming in 1s and 2s.

Rene Farrell

Perhaps it was appropriate that it was in Bullseye host Jim Bowen’s native Lancashire that Rene Farrell held up a big sign to the Australian selectors echoing his famous catchphrase: “Look at what you could have won!” Her 5fer showed just what Australia were missing during the World Cup; and how much they could have done with her being in England a month earlier!

Grace Gibbs

Is Grace Gibbs on course to be this year’s Cait O’Keefe ? O’Keefe played every game for the Western Storm last season, but didn’t bat or bowl; and Gibbs is currently on-course to repeat the feat this year! The serious point, however, is that this is one problem with having a competition so densely-packed with superstars – the new talent hardly gets a look-in sometimes, and it feels a bit unfair; though it is difficult to see what to do about it, short of a playing condition requiring players to either bowl or bat in the top 5? (Answers on a postcard, if you’ve got a better idea!)

Scotland 111-1 (L Jack 46*, S Ramautar 1 for 18) beat USA 110-2 (S Bhaskar 51*, KE Bryce 1 for 10) by 9 wickets

Jake Perry reports

Scotland’s women made it two wins out of two with a comfortable victory over USA in the second match of the ICC Women’s World T20 Europe/Americas Qualifier. In overcast conditions in Stirling another excellent performance with both bat and ball sealed a nine-wicket win for the tournament hosts with sixteen balls to spare.

After Scotland’s top order had made light work of their chase against the Netherlands the previous afternoon USA captain Sindhu Sriharsha’s decision to bat was a bold one, but openers Nadia Gruny and Shebani Bhaskar found it difficult to get their side’s innings off the ground in the face of accurate bowling from Katie McGill and Kathryn Bryce. The fourth over was add further problems, too, as the dangerous Gruny (7), having survived a confident shout for LBW in Bryce’s first over, was trapped in front by the final ball of her second.

Bryce was finding conditions much to her liking, swinging the ball prodigiously as both batsmen struggled to time the ball, and with USA at 19-1 at the end of the Powerplay scoreboard pressure started to tell in a series of swipes and misses as Bhaskar and Onika Wallerson attempted to break the shackles. Too few boundaries, however, were taking their toll.

The introduction of spin tightened things still further and the leg-spin of Abatha Maqood soon brought the second wicket as Wallerson (11) skied the ball to Priyanaz Chatterji at mid-on. New batsman Sriharsha (31*) made her intention plain with a confident pull for four, however, and with Bhaskar finding the rope with more consistency, too, the scoring began to pick up at last as the two added fifty together in rapid time.

Bhaskar (51*) brought up a good half-century as the visitors posted 110-2 at the end of their twenty overs. The third wicket pair’s careful placement and sharp running had shown what might have been, but USA’s slow progress at the top of the innings had left Scotland very much in control of the game.

Having played the supporting role to Lorna Jack’s half century against the Dutch, Kathryn Bryce immediately looked in fine touch as Scotland made a confident start to the chase. Light rain at the back end of the USA innings had continued into the beginning of the next, and the twenty year-old all-rounder unfurled a series of good-looking shots as Scotland quickly got ahead of the Duckworth-Lewis requirement. Jack was soon into her stride again, too, cutting Samantha Ramautar’s first ball for four as Scotland posted 40 in the Powerplay.

Both openers looked untroubled as they manoeuvred the ball to rotate the strike, and with inconsistent bowling finding its way to the boundary, too, USA’s total was put further into context. Despite Kathryn Bryce (37) falling within sight of the line, Jack (46*) and Sarah Bryce (7*) saw Scotland home at the beginning of the 18th over.

“The team is feeling really good,” said Kathryn Bryce. “Obviously it is tough having to sit around for a couple of days in the rain but it’s good to get out and play some good cricket.”

“The pitch is playing pretty well, it’s coming on quite nicely. If the bowler gets it into a good area it’s tough to get away, though, so [with the ball] I was looking to get as many balls into that area as I could.”

“We’re hoping to continue [our form] on into the next couple of games,” added Bryce. “To win [both games] with just a few wickets down is really good.”

It was another clinical victory for a Scotland side who have yet to be tested in the tournament, and with two spots at the ICC World Qualifier now up for grabs after the revamp of the regional event Steve Knox’s side will be confident that they have already gone a long way toward securing their berth in the next stage of the competition.

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Jake Perry writes on Scottish cricket for Cricket Scotland and CricketEurope and is a regular contributor to HoldingWilley.

Twitter: @jperry_cricket / Facebook: Jake Perry Cricket

Scotland 113-3 (L Jack 60, R Rijke 1 for 15) beat Netherlands 112-5 (HW Rambaldo 32*, LI Wilkinson 2 for 18) by 7 wickets

Jake Perry reports

After heavy rain put paid to the attempt to complete the opening cycle of matches at the ICC Women’s World T20 Europe/Americas Qualifier on time, Scotland recorded a comprehensive seven-wicket victory in their rearranged match with the Netherlands at New Williamfield. A magnificent half century from Lorna Jack anchored a comfortable chase for the tournament hosts as they secured victory with more than four overs to spare.

With residual moisture still affecting the outfield the Netherlands openers found runs hard to come by as they struggled to pierce the field, and Scotland’s decision to bowl first was further rewarded by Sarah Bryce’s sharp stumping of Stere Kalis (3) in the third over off the bowling of Katie McGill.

Dot balls from Kathryn Bryce, Priyanaz Chatterji and Samantha Haggo kept up the pressure on the visitors and when Haggo claimed the wicket of Babette de Leede (19), caught at point by Lois Wilkinson, the Netherlands found themselves in deep trouble at 39-2 after ten overs.

Wilkinson was soon in on the act with ball in hand, too, as Cher van Slobbe (22) edged behind to crown a wicket maiden, and although the incoming Heather Siegers (25) looked to counter-attack she was also to fall to the off-spinner, bowled by the last ball of Wilkinson’s final over.

The Dutch skipper’s cameo had at least succeeded in raising the tempo of her side’s innings, but despite Helmein Rambaldo (32*) picking up the mantle with some late boundaries of her own the Netherlands final total of 112-5 looked below par.

Just how much so became quickly apparent as Scotland openers Kathryn Bryce and Lorna Jack punished some wayward Dutch bowling to plunder 33 from the first four overs. The experienced pair made their intent clear from the outset, working the ball fluently around the wicket to push the Netherlands further and further out of the game, and although Bryce (21) was to fall lbw to Robine Rijke in the ninth over their partnership of 72 had put Scotland firmly in control.

Jack, playing on her home ground, repeatedly found the boundary with cuts and sweeps on her way to bringing up a 40-ball half-century in the twelfth over. It had been a terrific innings full of character and aggression, and although Leonie Bennett was to have the final word as Jack departed in the fifteenth, the inevitable was by then only five runs away.

“That was my first ever fifty for Scotland Women and it was a great time for it to happen,” said a delighted Jack.

“Kathryn and I got off to a really good start, we just looked to pick the gaps and hit a few boundaries where we could, and I’m just really proud to have helped the team over the line.”

“We knew that if two of the top five could make it into the twenties then push on we had every chance,” she continued.

“But we bat to number eleven, so even if I hadn’t done it today I would have backed the girls all the way.”

The tournament now moves into the reserve day, with USA playing Scotland then the Netherlands tomorrow (Wednesday) to complete the first cycle of matches in the double round-robin format.

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Jake Perry writes on Scottish cricket for Cricket Scotland and CricketEurope and is a regular contributor to HoldingWilley.

Twitter: @jperry_cricket / Facebook: Jake Perry Cricket

Vipers bt. Lightning by 46 runs

Suzie Bates

If anyone was still wondering where we got the crazy idea that New Zealand were going to win the World Cup, we present Exhibit A: Suzie Bates in imperious form once again, taking her second consecutive Player of the Match award of the tournament. Her 119 is the highest score ever made in a “pro” domestic T20, beating the previous record 103 held jointly by Sophie Devine (in WBBL02) and Grace Harris (in WBBL01). She then went on to take 3 wickets for 15 as the Lightning were bowled out off the final ball, with the (admittedly massive) target still a distant speck on the horizon.

Sarah Glenn

The 18-year-old was perhaps a surprise selection, given that Marie Kelly had acquitted herself pretty well on her debut v the Storm. Glenn has made a few runs for Derbyshire over the past couple of seasons in Div 2/3, but nothing to write home about; so it was fantastic to see her jump feet-first into the KSL with 25 off 21 balls.

“That” Run Out

Elyse Villani was given run out at the non-strikers end off Tash Farrant’s fingertip on the follow-through, but… did she or didn’t she? The ball certainly appeared to deviate on the replay from the umpire-cam; but the view from the other end looked a lot less conclusive. Obviously Farrant felt she had got a hand on it, but you’ll “feel” a ball travelling at that speed even if you don’t quite touch it. My impression is that she probably did make contact, though others will disagree; but the really interesting question is whether she meant to? If you are the Vipers, it was smart work… if you are the Lightning, Villani was unlucky – you pays your money and you takes your choice I guess!

That “Other” Run Out

There was no doubt about the other run out Farrant effected though – that of Ellyse Perry. Georgia Adams will get the credit on the scorecard, but the ball was missing until Farrant (standing in front of the stumps, as the England players are coached to do) gathered it and diverted it on in a single, brilliant movement. That is where all those hours of fielding drills make the difference for the pros – first judging that it was indeed going to miss, and then executing the move to change the course of the ball without losing anything but a fraction of its speed. Suzie Bates or no Suzie Bates, it was the Play of the Day for me!