England opener Danni Wyatt cracked 76 from 44 balls at Trent Bridge as Southern Vipers made it four wins from four in the Charlotte Edwards Cup, which all but guarantees their place at next month’s finals day.
Lightning, who suffered a third defeat in four, were bowled out for 141 in 19.4 overs, Vipers chasing down their target in the 17th to win by five wickets.
Wyatt hit 11 fours and a six before she was caught by England teammate Tammy Beaumont on the midwicket boundary with Vipers in sight of the win.
The Staffordshire-born star, whose maximum was driven over mid-on, was dropped twice, on 61 and 65, although both were difficult chances in the deep and it is debatable whether it would have altered the outcome had one of them stuck.
Marie Kelly hit 36 from just 12 balls as Lightning overcame the early loss of Beaumont for one but a powerplay worth 57 runs came at the cost of four wickets and the home side were grateful to Kathryn Bryce (23) and Lucy Higham (31) for leading a recovery from 77 for six.
Former Lightning skipper Georgia Elwiss took three for 28, with 17-year-old left-arm pace bowler Freya Kemp claiming the wickets of Kelly and Beaumont. Higham also took three for 30 with her off-spin for Lightning.
After Lightning had won the toss, Kelly shrugged off the loss of opening partner Beaumont, clearing the legside boundary three times off Lauren Bell before cracking three consecutive fours off Kemp.
She and Ella Claridge added 44 in 19 balls but Lightning’s blistering start was checked by the loss of three wickets in seven balls on the same score.
England hopeful Bell went for 28 in two overs but the introduction of Anya Shrubsole saw Claridge brilliantly caught by Bell at short third man before new batter Sarah Bryce clipped tamely to short midwicket.
Kemp, the 17-year-old left-arm seamer, had dismissed Beaumont caught behind as she sought to drive the teenager’s first ball, and claimed another big scalp as Kelly was pouched by a back-peddling Maya Bouchier at midwicket at the start of her third over. With that, Lightning had slipped from 52 for one to 52 for four in the blink of an eye.
Bryce, the experienced Lightning captain, took charge of the rebuilding job but her side were 77 for six in the 10th over after Elwiss had Bethan Ellis caught at backward point before Teresa Graves was leg before trying to sweep Vipers skipper Georgia Adams’s off spin.
Bryce fell for 23, hitting Elwiss to extra cover, but Higham and Sophie Munro added a valuable 33 for the eighth wicket before Paige Scholfield held on to a catch falling backwards at long-on to give Elwiss her third scalp as Munro departed.
Higham ultimately hit Bell straight to mid-on and Grace Ballinger sliced to short third man as the Lightning innings ended after four balls of the final over.
Needing just over seven an over, Vipers were 48 for one from the powerplay after Adams was caught at point but Wyatt showed her quality as she and Bouchier added 69 for the second wicket before 17-year-old leg spinner Josie Groves had Bouchier caught at mid-off.
Wyatt holed out to midwicket and Scholfield top-edged to cover as Higham took two in three balls to induce a minor wobble from the Vipers, who lost Elle McCaughan as Higham picked up her third scalp via a stumping but the result was never in doubt.
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Vipers matchwinner Danni Wyatt said: “Marie Kelly played really well for them at the start and it looked like they were going to get a really big score but we pulled it back really well. We knew it was a good wicket and it just came off for me today, so I’m really happy to contribute to a win.
“They lost a few wickets in the middle and they never really recovered, so credit to our bowlers for keeping their foot on the pedal. They have been outstanding throughout the tournament and hopefully that will continue.
“It was a good pitch and I think we would have been looking to get 160 had we batted first, with a fast outfield on the wicket. It was a pitch where you could play proper shots and I just targeted the bowlers and tried to bat to my strengths.
“I actually never really felt in. Although it was a good wicket but there was a little bit there at the back of a length, so it was just a matter of getting behind those and getting singles, capitalising on anything full and making room for myself to cut through the off side.”
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Lucy Higham, who made 31 and took three wickets for Loughborough-based Lightning, said: “You’re not going to win many games of cricket losing four wickets in the power play. At Trent Bridge I think 160 to 170 is par so we came up short on the runs and it was credit to our bowling performance that we managed to take it that deep in the end.
“Marie is in a league of her own at the minute and she has confidence in herself and it is exciting to watch her but we needed to build more on that start.
“I was pleased with my own innings from a personal point of view, to have put the team in a position where we could have had a go, and then to chip in with a few wickets but we came up against a very strong side today.
“We had a couple of absentees with Kirstie Gordon and Piepa Cleary missing. Obviously that makes a difference because Kirstie is a world-class bowler and Piepa has a lot of experience with the bat and ball but that’s cricket, that’s life, you have to get on with it.”
