White Ferns Super League Tour #4
Loughborough Lightning vs Surrey Stars
Here we are again, noting another minor contribution from Sophie Devine and this time it was Lea Tahuhu who got the wicket of the White Ferns all-rounder. Devine's Lightning still went on to beat the Stars, however Devine couldn't do better than 16 off 16 ball before Tahuhu had her caught behind with the Lightning going on to score 168/6 off their 20 overs. Tahuhu finished with 1/9 off just a single over.
Devine did manage to do a job with the ball, taking 2/12 off 2.5 overs, with her economy-rate of 4.23 the lowest of any Lightning bowler. The Lightning had Surrey all out for 134 off 19.5 overs with Tahuhu hitting 8 off 12 balls as No.10.
Sophie Devine: 16, 2/12 off 2.5.
Lea Tahuhu: 1/9 off 1, 8.
Southern Vipers vs Western Storm
Rachel Priest's Storm grabbed a big win over the Vipers, despite the efforts of Suzie Bates. Bates hit 57 off just 50 balls at a strike-rate of 114 and along with 19 off 22 balls from Sara McGlashan, the Vipers finished with the slightly underwhelming 137/3 off 20 overs.
The Storm chased that down in 17.5 overs, with no help from Priest who opened the innings and was dismissed for a 9-ball duck. Morna Nielsen didn't get a bat with the Vipers leaving wickets in the shed and she was a non-factor with the ball as well, going wicket-less in 3.5 overs, conceding 23 runs. The Vipers have two of the best bowlers of the Super League in their line up, of course both are White Ferns, except Nielsen and Suzie Bates both went wicket-less. Bates was the second most expensive Vipers bowler, conceding 9.33rpo off her 3 overs.
Suzie Bates: 57, 0/28 off 3.
Sara McGlasahan: 19.
Morna Nielsen: 0/23 off 3.5.
Rachel Priest: 0.
Lancashire Thunder vs Yorkshire Diamonds
Yorkshire defeated Amy Satterthwaite's Lancashire, hitting 166/6 off 20 overs before they rolled Lancashire for just 71. Satterthwaite opened the bowling for Lancashire and took a wicket in the first over, finishing with 1/28 off 3 overs before she hit 16 off 20 balls as her team crumbled.
Amy Satterthwaite: 1/28 off 3, 16.
Southern Vipers vs Loughborough Lightning
Southern stormed straight into the final with a big win over Loughborough, led by a dominant all-round display from Suzie Bates. Batting first, Bates hit 38 off just 24 balls at a strike-rate of 158.33 and with Sara McGlashan hitting 34* off 36 balls, two White Ferns led the Vipers scorers as they made 156/4 off their 20 overs. Sophie Devine also picked up a wicket, used as the 6th bowler, finishing with 1/22 off 3 overs.
However, Devine once again failed to live up to the hype as she put a 2-ball duck in the books with the Vipers rolling Devine's Lightning for just 97. Bates took 2/11 off 2.5 overs and also took a catch while Morna Nielsen strangely went without a wicket again, finishing with 0/16 off 3 overs.
Suzie Bates: 38, 2/11 off 2.5.
Sara McGlashan: 34.
Morna Nielsen: 0/16 off 3.
Sophie Devine: 1/22 off 3, 0.
Yorkshire Diamonds vs Western Storm
With Loughborough losing to Southern, they were set to face the winner of this game while Southern went straight through to the final. Yorkshire batted first and hit 118 off 20 overs, Rachel Priest took a catch and a stumping before a clutch innings at the top of the order for the Storm.
Priest hit 50 off just 35 balls, hitting 2 sixes and striking at 142.85 as her and West Indian star Stafanie Taylor put on 101 for the first-wicket and snatched the game away from Yorkshire. Western reached 119/4 in 16.3 overs and we'll now be treated to Priest vs Devine, before the winner takes on Southern's gang of White Ferns overnight Sunday.
Suzie Bates is ranked 3rd in run-scoring with 180 runs at an average of 45 from five games.
Amy Satterthwaite is ranked 4th in runs, with 146 runs at 36.50 from five games.
Both Satterthwaite (102.81) and Bates (113.20) have strike-rates over 100.
Bates is also ranked 7th in wickets, taking 7 wickets at 12.42, conceding 5.32rpo.