Southern Vipers secured their place in the Charlotte Edwards Cup finals day with a dominant five-wicket T20 win over the Eastern Sunrisers at the 1st Central County Ground in Hove.
Chasing 115 to win, the Vipers were carried by a thrilling 63 from 33 balls by captain Georgia Adams.
That was after an embarrassing Sunrisers capitulation in which they lost their first four wickets for only 18 runs.
Opening the bowling, the magnificent Lindsay Smith claimed three wickets for 14 runs with her left-arm spin.
Smith, who’s taken 10 wickets this campaign, had Lissy Macleod stumped behind with a looping delivery from the third ball of the innings. She then struck twice in her second over, pinning South Africa’s Dane van Niekerk lbw before Mady Villiers chipped a simple catch to mid-wicket.
Although the bowling was tight, the Sunrisers top order will be kicking themselves. Mady Villiers’ wicket was a feeble attempt to take on the spinner, a half-hearted drive, gracefully gobbled up by Georgia Elwiss.
Equally poor was the run out of Amara Carr. Already three down, Carr pushed a suicidal second with Cordelia Griffith at the other end. Alice Monaghan delivered a flat throw and wicketkeeper Nicole Faltum did the rest – her first of two runouts.
Griffith was the only Sunrisers batter to offer any meaningful resistance. Her 65 runs were worth 57 per cent of the visitors’ final score, a vital contribution to save her side from further ignominy.
In the fifth over, she was partnered with Florence Millar, who made a steady if somewhat pedestrian 20 from 30 balls.
The pair rotated strike and put on something of a recovery, scraping together a 65-run partnership before Millar was bowled by a searing Georgia Elwiss yorker.
As the innings drew to a close, Griffith looked to up the ante, pulling Elwiss for consecutive boundaries to claim her fifty in style.
Her 56-ball-knock would end soon after, however, slapping an Anya Shrubsole full-toss to Elwiss at extra-cover in the 18th over. The Sunrisers finished their innings on 114.
In a day dominated by spin, Vipers match-winner Adams took a particular liking to the off-breaks of Abtaha Maqsood. Her second over was a particularly intriguing one – Adams pulling the Scotland international for four before skying her next delivery straight up. Luckily for the Vipers, their skipper was put down by substitute fielder Katherine Speed. Adams then smacked the next ball – a full toss, for six.
Maqsood ultimately went for 31 runs from her two overs – a poor effort from a usually class player.
Her fellow leg-spinner, Mady Villiers, fared a little better. Striking twice in her first over, the England star clean-bowled Nicole Faltum before outsmarting Ella McCaughan, who was caught on the boundary for 13. Returning three overs, later, she dismissed Georgia Elwiss, who was also caught on the boundary, slog-sweeping.
Debutant Esmae Macgregor was also impressive. The 18-year-old bowled both Freya Kemp and Emily Windsor. Her first wicket was a peach, nipping away and clipping Kemp’s off stump.
But it was too little too late for the Sunrisers. After reaching her fifty off 28 balls, Adams punished MacGregor down the ground for six, and claimed the win from the next ball – the Vipers victorious with 5.1 overs to spare.
The win takes the Vipers to second, securing their spot in the Charlotte Edwards Cup finals day this Saturday. They take on third-placed Thunder at New Road, in Worcester, for a chance to face league leaders the Blaze later in the day.
