Rachel Priest is – as Forrest Gump might have put it – like a box of chocolates: you never know what you’re gonna get!

Her scores at the World Cup this summer read: 2 against South Africa, 8 against Australia, 8 against Pakistan, 12 against England, 5 against India. Oh…and 90 off 55 balls against the West Indies!

In this year’s Super League, her first two innings were 3 off 8 balls versus the Vipers, and a 4-ball duck against the Lightning.

Then came York: the Storm v the Diamonds.

With the Storm chasing 160, after what Women’s Cricket Blog described as an “iffy” start, Priest reached her 50 off 39 balls… and then she really got going! Finishing on 106*, the second 50 had taken just 25 balls. In total she hit 14 4s and 3 6s, including 15 off an over from Sophie Devine and another 15 off Chamari Atapattu.

In the Storm’s final group match, against the Thunder at Bristol, there was really no “start” at all – just a “finish”! After hitting 10 off the first over from Kate Cross, Priest went on to smash the fastest 50 in KSL history, off 22 balls, with 7 4s and 3 6s.

And so to Hove for Finals Day, with the Storm distinctly unfancied: our statistical analysis said they had only a 24% chance of lifting the title, and our followers on Twitter agreed – just 17% of them made the Storm favourites!

In the semi-final, with the Storm chasing a low total against the Stars, Priest got a bit of a start, hitting a couple of 4s, before horribly missing a fairly innocuous ball from Nat Sciver to be bowled for 11, as the Storm collapsed to 17-4.

Had everyone been right about the Storm?

No! It was Stafanie Taylor who kept them in it, guiding them home with an over to spare, with a patient 37 off 45 balls – Priest was to have one more chance to really make her mark, in the final against the Vipers.

At the half-way point in the final, however, the odds were stacked against the Storm once again. Although the Vipers highest individual score was just 31, a massive “team effort” had taken them to an imposing 145 – all-but 50% more than the Storm had just about managed to chase earlier in the day. There were men in white coats standing outside Ladbrokes on Portland Road, waiting to cart anyone betting on the Storm off to the loony bin!

Meanwhile in the press box, all the talk was of Charlotte Edwards, who had just hit 20* off 8 balls, with no 6s (Lottie does it “old school”) but 4 sweet 4s. If it was a secret that this was to be Edwards’ final game, it wasn’t a very well-kept one, and the fairy-tale ending was already being hotly anticipated and written-up for the morning’s papers.

But Rachel Priest had other ideas.

She hit her first 6 in Linsey Smith’s second over, but it was her brutal treatment of Smith’s third (and final) over which changed the course of the match. It began with a wide; before Smith seemed to pull it back with two dots. Then the damn broke – a 4, another wide, a no-ball hit for 4, the free hit sent for a soaring 6, then 2 more 4s – 26 off the over, and the Viper’s leading bowler quite literally battered out of the game.

By the time Rachel Priest was finally dismissed, brilliantly caught by Danni Wyatt, with a racing dive from deep midwicket to deep mid on, she had made 72 off 36 balls – a strike rate of exactly 200. There was still work to do – the required rate was just a little under 6 at that point – but it was as if Priest’s innings had lifted all the pressure off. Sophie Luff in particular looked a different player from the one who had made a nervous 5 off 6 balls in the semi-final – Priest had made batting look easy again, and Luff, Stafanie Taylor and Fran Wilson (running for Taylor, who was suffering from cramp) eased the Storm to victory with 12 balls to spare.

Charlotte Edwards – her fairy-tale ending denied – said afterwards that the Storm were simply the better team.

They weren’t.

But Rachel Priest was.

She might be infuriatingly inconsistent; but on her day she can be the best player in the world.

And this was her day.

Stars Innings

• The Stars innings never quite got going – Claire Nicholas was exceptionally economical in the powerplay – conceding just 5 runs in her first 3 overs (overs 1, 3 & 5). Admittedly, she conceded 9 in her final over (over 7), but by that point the pattern of the game had been set; and 100 didn’t feel like a par score at all.
• It was the Storm’s spin attack which controlled the game – their quicks went for 6-an-over on average; their spinners just 4.57.
• But… to be fair to them… the quicks were more than twice as likely to take wickets – taking a wicket every 2 overs bowled; compared with one every 4.5 overs for the spinners.

Storm Innings

• The Storm’s reply was a case-study in not panicking, despite losing wickets – they were always on-course with the rate but at 4-wickets down after 10 overs, with all-but-one of their “big” batsmen back in the dugout, they could so easily have hit The Big Red Button.
• The last “big” batsman was Stafanie Taylor; but she didn’t “bat big” – she batted at a Strike Rate of just over 80 – that’s absolutely not a big number, but it was enough of a number as long as she stayed in – and she did! She was there to guide the tail home and hit the winning runs with 7 balls to spare.

• They say slow and steady wins the race! Well, not always; but it did in this semi-final!
• In contrast to the Storm, the Stars spinners were more expensive – going at 6.4-an-over, compared to 4.5 for the quicks.

The Toss

Heather Knight described it as “a good toss to lose”, no doubt aware that – as Hypocaust pointed out before play began – Storm have only batted first twice in all KSL games, and both times they lost. It was a scrabble, but they retained that record today. Stars, who seem to be reasonably confident both chasing and setting a total, might therefore have been better off putting their opponents in.

Claire Nicholas

Stars might be able to rip through their opponents with an all-international bowling attack, but this tournament is also about discovering new talent, and there’s only one non-international who has opened the bowling for her side every single match this tournament: Claire Nicholas.* Today her captain, Heather Knight, showed the ultimate faith in giving her 4 straight powerplay overs, which went for just 14 runs. The Huddleston Experiment might not have worked – the Nicholas one certainly has.

Stafanie Taylor

Taylor had a miserable World Cup and that’s been followed by a fairly miserable Super League. Nonetheless, when her side needed her the most she did finally deliver, hitting 37* to take them over the line when at one stage they absolutely did look dead in the water. Even more impressively Taylor played in a way that isn’t her natural T20 game – acting as anchorwoman rather than bish bash boshing it around. Before today she had scores of 8, 34, 4 and 0 in the group games – all is now forgiven!

Batting Breadth

What we’ve seen in Super League is actually similar in some ways to what we see in the Women’s County Championship: once a side is 3 or 4 wickets down, they tend to struggle with the bat. That was true of both sides today, with the “big” stars dismissed early on – for Stars none of Tammy Beaumont, Lizelle Lee, Marizanne Kapp or Nat Sciver went on to make a big score; and Storm then found themselves 17-4 in the 4th over. It was just fortunate for Storm that Georgia Hennessy kept a calm head on her shoulders. Basically what this match proves is that a side that can – genuinely – bat deep will win most of their games, most of the time.

* To be fair to her, Linsey Smith did open the bowling for Vipers in 4 out of 5 group games, but missed the last match due to illness.

NB – Because there were no cancelled games in Div 1 this season “Average” points didn’t come into it, so we’ve shown total points for clarity; but technically it was average points that counted.

On a sunny bank holiday Monday at Edgbaston Foundation Ground, Lancashire finished their 2017 County Championship season on a high, winning by 5 wickets after Sophie Ecclestone ripped through the Warwickshire batting line-up, taking 6-12.

In doing so they not only denied Warwickshire the chance at County Championship glory, but unexpectedly propelled themselves into the lead after Yorkshire lost to Nottinghamshire, ultimately seizing the Division 1 County Championship crown at the 11th hour.

Having won the toss and chosen to bat, Kathryn Bryce had got Warwickshire off to a solid start with successive boundaries off Kate Cross, but Ecclestone quickly spoiled the party, removing Mina Zahoor (LBW) and Bryce (bowled) in her third over of the day.

She then took a good catch at mid on to see off danger woman Sophie Devine, giving team mate Kate Cross her first wicket of the day, and followed that up in turn with a double wicket maiden, slipping a ball under Marie Kelly’s bat to bowl her and then trapping Bethan Ellis LBW with her very next delivery.

5 Warwickshire wickets had gone down for 27 runs and Ecclestone had been part of them all.

A mini recovery ensued by Warwickshire as Sian Kelly took on the senior role, successfully defending Ecclestone’s hat-trick ball, and putting on 22 runs with Ria Fackrell for the 7th wicket – Warwickshire’s highest partnership of the day.

But Natalie Brown eventually had Fackrell caught at cover and, reintroduced to the attack in the 27th over, Ecclestone went on to claim two further wickets, though it was Cross (3-33) who eventually seized the scalp of Sian Kelly, stumped by Ellie Threlkeld for 21.

Hers was the last wicket to fall, as Warwickshire were all out for 88 in 33.1 overs.

Lancashire stumbled a little in their reply, as Sophie Devine ensured that both Emma Lamb and Natalie Brown were sent back without scoring.

Becky Grundy also got in on the action, having Amy Sattherthwaite out caught behind for 11 and Ellie Threlkeld stumped for 15. By the time lunch was taken, 16 overs into their innings, Lancashire were 59-4.

Crucially, though, in the last match of what has been a brilliant first season for her wearing the Red Rose, Eve Jones remained unbeaten, eventually racking up 35*. Both of Lancashire’s stars with the ball then chimed in with the bat, too, to see their side safely over the line: Kate Cross hitting a speedy 19 (including the only six of the day, over long on) and Ecclestone (8*) contributing two boundaries of her own, including the winning runs in the 21st over.

Both might be said to have made a case for inclusion in the Ashes squad which will fly out to Australia in October.

For Lancashire, though, more immediate celebrations await as they celebrate their maiden County Championship title, adding to the T20 Cup which they won back in July.

NB – Because there have been no cancelled games in Div 1 this season (amazingly!) “Average” points won’t come into it, so we’ve shown total points for clarity; but technically it is average points that count.

At The Top

At the top of the table, either Yorkshire or Warwickshire (or even Lancashire at a pinch) could win it.

• Yorkshire, playing Notts – Equal (or better) Warwickshire’s result.
• Warwickshire, playing Lancashire – Better Yorkshire’s result but more than one point. (If they are equal on points, Yorkshire win because they won the game between them yesterday.)
• Lancashire, playing Warwickshire – Win big and hope Yorkshire lose big.

At The Bottom

At the bottom, one of Kent, Middlesex and Sussex will accompany Berkshire down to Div 2 next season.

• Kent, playing Berkshire – Win… probably! (It is technically possible that they could win and still go down, if they somehow contrived to get a lot fewer bonus points than the loser of Sussex v Middlesex.)
• Middlesex, playing Sussex – Win, or hope Kent lose!
• Sussex, playing Middlesex – Ditto – win, or hope Kent lose!

On a hot, sunny day at Hove, an all-round display from England’s Danni Wyatt, who took 3-17 and scored 48, eased Sussex to a 7-wicket win over Berkshire.

The Beavers were bowled out for 121, with Wyatt and team mate Ellen Burt the main beneficiaries, finishing with 3 wickets apiece.

An 84-run partnership between Wyatt and new recruit Mignon du Preez (47*) then enabled Sussex to easily chase down the required runs.

Having won the toss and chosen to bat on a good pitch, Berkshire had started their innings positively, with Tara Norris’s first over going for 21 runs, including a maximum from Rachel Priest.

Priest reached 21 in 16 balls before holing out to Ciara Green at mid-off, but Lissy Macleod then took on her mantle, hitting both Norris and Burt for a series of boundaries before launching Wyatt straight down the pitch. 5 balls later, though, Wyatt got her revenge as the umpire judged that Macleod had gloved the ball to Abi Freeborn behind the stumps when on 38.

Macleod departed at the end of the 13th over, with the score 80-3 and the run rate a healthy 6.15. Unfortunately Berkshire’s lower order could not follow through on the early Priest-Macleod onslaught. The next 7 wickets fell for 41 runs as the Beavers collapsed to 121 all out – assisted on their way by a spectacular catch from du Preez, diving forward at midwicket to see off Carla Rudd (15).

It did not seem a particularly imposing total, but there was a glimmer of hope for Berkshire early on in Sussex’s chase, as Ashleigh Muttitt struck in her first over to have Georgia Adams caught at mid off by Lauren Bell for a duck.

Bell followed it up with her own scalp in the next over as Izzy Collis was adjudged LBW, leaving Sussex on 8-2.

Had Priest managed to cling on at backward point when du Preez – then on 14* – sent a catch her way, things might have got interesting. As it was, the South African proceeded – in conjunction with Wyatt – to take the attack to the Berkshire bowlers, blitzing a total of 14 boundaries between them.

Amelia Humphrey successfully removed Wyatt in the 15th over, as she holed out to midwicket two runs short of her half-century with 30 still required; but ultimately du Preez safely saw Sussex over the line, hitting the winning runs in the 18th over.

Afterwards Wyatt – who last year hit 120* for her side at the same ground – told CRICKETher that she enjoys batting at Hove:

“They always produce a nice wicket. I love batting here. When I play for Sussex I seem to get a few runs here.”

She also relished the opportunity to contribute with the ball:

“I’ve not bowled much in games recently, so it was nice to actually bowl a few overs today. I’m more of a net bowler these days, but I’m still a bowling option which is good.

I still love bowling, and I’m just going to keep bowling and keep taking wickets, hopefully, when I get the chance.”

The Two El(l)yses

Ellyse Perry’s innings today was one of two halves: during the first 10 overs she managed 10 off 21 balls at a strike rate of 48; across the second 10 overs she hit 58 off 32 balls, at a strike rate of 181. As her captain Georgia Elwiss explained after play, “We always know that she’ll start a little bit slower than others… but we also know that she can catch up when she gets in.”

Despite Perry’s late brilliance, it’s worth bearing in mind that her approach relies on being surrounded by team mates who can ensure that the scoreboard continues to tick along even when she herself is finding her feet. Basically, for every Perry you need a Villani or two; and though Perry might take home the plaudits most of the time, it was Elyse Villani’s 39-ball 71 that was probably the more important of the two innings today.

A Dead Rubber?

There was a bit of a feeling around that Stars flopped today partly because they were already through to Finals Day, whereas Lightning’s qualification depended on a win. But I’m not sure they (or any of their fans!) can use that as a “get out clause”. Let’s not forget that Stars also had a chance of automatic qualification for Friday’s final, which they threw away. Not great given that they now have to face last year’s finalists Storm in the semi.

Stars Batting

As Syd’s piece on the contribution of non-internationals shows, Surrey Stars have hugely relied on their superstar players this season – before today the non-internationals had faced only 9 overs. It meant that their middle and lower-order was rather exposed when push came to shove; by the time they were 3 wickets down in the 6th over, the match was already halfway to being lost, with Nat Sciver their last real hope of chasing down such a high total. You could tell by the way she slammed her bat on the ground after being bowled that Sciver thought so, too.

Lightning Only Strikes Twice

Reflecting on the season after close of play, Elwiss was fairly philosophical, but she did highlight an important point: “We’ve only just started to play our best cricket. Unfortunately we didn’t get into our stride quickly enough over the tournament, and that’s what’s cost us.” After 3 losses Loughborough finished strongly, with 2 big wins, and while they played brilliantly today, it only makes it more disappointing to think that we won’t be seeing them again as a unit for another 12 months. It shows exactly why it’s such a positive move for the competition to expand into a 10-game contest next season.

On a melting hot day at The Oval, the two El(l)yses – Villani and Perry – hit 71 and 68 respectively, as the Lightning beat the Stars by 81 runs, to finish their Super League campaign with a second bonus-point victory. But for the Lightning it was the best of times and the worst of times, as despite the result they failed to qualify for Finals Day.

On the same pitch where the men had hit over 400 runs in the T20 Blast the previous night, Lightning skipper Georgia Elwiss won the toss and chose to bat against the Stars, with the Lightning knowing that not only did they need the win, but also for other results to go their way, to have any hope of semi-final qualification; whilst for the Stars a win would seal direct entry to next Friday’s final.

Opening the batting with Amy Jones still injured, Sarah Glenn lasted just 3 balls, caught by Rene Farrell at mid on off Laura Marsh for 0.

Elyse Villani was soon into her stride however, swatting Marsh dismissively for a huge 6 over backward square, as she plundered 17 from the England offie’s 2nd over.

Replacing Marsh, Nat Sciver bowled a maiden to Ellyse Perry, but could do little to halt Villani’s scoring rate in the following over as she continued to find the boundary regularly, helped by some poor fielding from the Stars.

Villani reached her 50 off 28 balls in the 8th over, with another big 6 over cow corner off Alex Hartley, whilst at the other end Perry drifted on at a Strike Rate of well under 50. By the time Villani was out, for a 39-ball 71 – caught by Sophia Dunkley at long off – Perry had made it into double-figures… just… on 10!

Having come in in the 1st over, Perry hit her first boundary (a 6 off Hartley) in the 12th, as she finally started to get motoring.

Incoming batsman Georgia Elwiss meanwhile looked like a lady who hasn’t played much cricket, as she scratched around for a 13-ball 6.

In the meantime Perry pushed on, and by the time she brought up her 50 – smashing the penultimate over, bowled by Nat Sciver, for 22 – she had accelerated sufficiently to push her Strike Rate over 100 – finishing on 68* off 53 balls, as the Lightning posted 171-3, with Thea Brookes playing a useful supporting role to Perry, with 14 off 13 at the end.

With the Stars needing well over 8 an over, Tammy Beaumont got a start, reaching 11 off 11 balls, before Kristen Beams was granted an LBW after what must go down as one of the longest and loudest appeals in history!

Lizelle Lee meanwhile couldn’t pick up where she left off after the other day’s 72, and was caught at deep square by Sonia Odedra for 1 off 8 balls – that gave Perry a wicket-maiden; though it could have been a double if she had not immediately dropped Nat Sciver on 0 – an admittedly difficult caught and bowled chance which was hit back at her very hard.

Perry picked up another wicket in her 3rd over – Marizanne Kapp bowled playing down the wrong line at a straight delivery – leaving the Stars 25-3 at the end of the powerplay.

With the required rate having climbed to well over 10, it was already looking like the Lightning’s day. Bryony Smith holed-out to Villani at long on – a good catch over her right shoulder; but with Nat Sciver getting going at the other end – hitting Georgia Elwiss for three consecutive 4s – there was still hope for the Stars.

That hope disappeared however with a furious Sciver smashing her bat down onto the pitch, having been bowled by Sarah Glenn for 24 in the 12th over.

Sophia Dunkley was bowled by Beth Langston for 8, exposing her stumps as she looked to play a rather too premeditated leg glance; whilst Sonia Odedra took another solid catch at deep square to dismiss Laura Marsh; then a third running around to mid off to bag Rene Farrell.

The inevitable last wickets came two-by-two – Becky Grundy bowling Grace Gibbs for 9 (including a 6), and then Alex Hartley for a golden duck – the Stars finishing on 90 all out, 105 runs short.

The result means that the Stars miss out on direct final qualification, and will contest the semi-final against the Storm next Friday afternoon at Hove for the right to meet the Vipers in the final; whilst the Lightning finish 4th overall, just missing out on Finals Day.

Afterwards, we spoke to a slightly disappointed Georgia Elwiss, who told us:

“Unfortunately we didn’t get into our stride quick enough over the tournament, and that’s what has cost us; but it is nice to finish with a win like this, and for people to show what they can do.”

“We always know that Ellyse Perry will start a little bit slower than others, but Elyse Villani was brilliant – taking all that pressure off her [Perry] so she could play her natural game – both of them were outstanding today and really showed their class. It was a flat pitch, but Surrey have got an all international attack and they bowled quite well those last 10 overs, but we always know that Pez [Perry] can catch up when she gets in.”

It will come as no surprise that the leading batsmen and bowlers in KSL17 are the established stars; but what about the non-internationals – those who have never played international cricket?

There are actually some significant differences in the contributions of the non-internationals at the different teams.

At the Western Storm, they’ve done a fair bit of work in both departments; whilst at the other end of the scale at the Surrey Stars, they’ve had very little to do in either!

At the Thunder they’ve done their share of the batting – much of that is Eve Jones, who has faced 14 of the 30 overs that non-internationals have batted for. Over at the Vipers they’ve bowled a lot more than they’ve batted – mainly thanks to Linsey Smith, who has bowled all four of her overs in every game so far – i.e. 16 of the 26 total.

Overs Batted = Balls Faced / 6

Non-International Batting Rankings

In the Batting Rankings, the leading player is Sarah Glenn, who comes in at 14 in the overall list. (Although Hennessy and Jones have both scored more runs, Glenn “wins” thanks to her vastly superior Strike Rate.)

Georgia Hennessy and Eve Jones have also both impressed. Although both have very similar numbers, they’ve come in very different ways: Jones, the steady anchor, has run at lot more, with just 47% of her runs coming in boundaries; whereas Hennessy, the bit hitter, has 63% of her runs in boundaries, including three 6s!

Batting Ranking = Runs * Strike Rate; [X] = Overall Rank

Non-International Bowling Rankings

In the Bowling Rankings, it’s deja-vu all over again as Linsey Smith has conclusively proved that she is not a “One Hit Wonder” by replicating her standout performances from last season, breaking into the overall top 10 at number 9. Wales’ Claire Nicholas, in her debut KSL season, is just behind her, also making that overall top 10.

Leading batsman, Lightning’s Sarah Glenn also makes the bowling list, having taken 2-8 in her only bowling cameo versus the Thunder – a statistical quirk perhaps, but wickets are wickets! Alice Davidson-Richards also makes both lists – 7th in batting and 3rd in bowling – no statistical quirks involved there!

Bowling Ranking = Wickets / Economy