Lancashire Thunder win first professional women's trophy
A star-studded Lancashire Thunder side made history as they claimed the first silverware of women’s cricket’s new era, overcoming fellow Tier One side Surrey with a 32-run victory at the inaugural Vitality T20 Women’s County Cup Final in Taunton.
Lancashire appeared to be in pole position at the halfway stage of the match, scoring 172/6 from their 20 overs. Opening duo Emma Lamb and Tilly Kesteven put on 48 from the powerplay, hitting eight 4s in the process. A brief rain delay at the start of the seventh over failed to halt their momentum, as the pair went on to add 38 runs by the end of the tenth over, reaching 86/0. Tilly Corteen-Coleman then provided much-needed relief for Surrey, breaking the 86-run partnership with the wicket of Lamb for 27 (25).
As the sun broke through the clouds, young star Kesteven was the shining light for Thunder, scoring 77 from 60, including fourteen 4s before being bowled by Kalea Moore. Following her dismissal, the runs kept flowing, as Thunder scored 49 from their last 5 overs. Moore prevented further damage in the final over of the innings, taking the wickets of Morris and Ecclestone to end as the pick of Surrey’s bowlers, with figures of 4/27.
With a daunting 172 run chase, Surrey openers Bryony Smith and Kira Chathli got off to a positive start, scoring 17 off the opening two overs. However, after hitting England International Kate Cross for two 6s, Chathli was bowled for 21 from 8. The story was similar for captain Bryony Smith, after hitting pacer Grace Potts for four consecutive 4s, an uncontrolled drive saw her caught at mid-off by Cross for 25 from 17.
A further flurry of runs for Surrey again led to wickets for Lancashire as, after a productive ninth over off the bowling of Sophie Morris which produced 13 runs including a six off the bat of Franklin, Thunder responded as Ecclestone took the wickets of Scholfield and Jones in consecutive balls to end the tenth over.
Despite late contributions from Phoebe Franklin (41 from 36) & Kalea Moore (22* from 27) Lancashire absorbed the pressure to restrict Surrey’s run rate, helped by their consistently tight fielding. England duo Sophie Ecclestone (4/12 from 4) and Kate Cross (2/27 from 4) ended as the pick of their bowlers as Lancashire completed a comfortable 32-run victory.
Lancashire Thunder's victory under the floodlights in Taunton makes them the last team standing of the 37 that entered the inaugural Vitality T20 Women's County Cup, an “FA Cup” style knock-out tournament created by the ECB to allow all three tiers of the domestic women's game to compete with one another.
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