Lancashire miss out on Finals Day despite Ecclestone special
Saturday, 18 August was the last day of the league stage of the WCSL, and the scrap was on to join Loughborough and Western Storm in the top three, and make it to Finals Day.
As it turned out, Surrey Stars pipped the others to the post by beating Storm in their game, rendering irrelevant Lancashire’s victory over Southern Vipers as well as Yorkshire’s campaign-ending win over Loughborough.
| Team | M | W | L | T/NR | PTS | NRR |
| Loughborough Lightning | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 33 | 1.361 |
| Western Storm | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 30 | 0.919 |
| Surrey Stars | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 24 | -0.404 |
| Lancashire Thunder | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 21 | -0.825 |
| Yorkshire Diamonds | 10 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 15 | -0.290 |
| Southern Vipers | 10 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 10 | -0.490 |
Lancashire Thunder v Southern VipersLancashire were still in the race for the third spot, and their batters set it up nicely for them after they won the toss and took first strike. Nicole Bolton and Harmanpreet Kaur hit 40s to take them to 162/3, and Sophie Ecclestone then returned outstanding figures of 4/20 to bowl the Vipers, who finished last on the table, out for 153.
Bolton and Georgie Boyce gave Lancashire a first-wicket stand of 49 runs before Boyce fell off the first ball after the Powerplay for 28. Bolton did well to score 43 off 34 balls, and with Amy Satterthwaite hitting a run-a-ball 27 and Kaur providing an excellent late flourish with a 20-ball 44* – with five fours and two sixes – Lancashire finished strongly.
But it was still not a big total, and with Danielle Wyatt (36) and Tammy Beaumont (34) going well at the top for the Vipers, it was very much game on. But Ecclestone sent back Wyatt and Beaumont fell to Kate Cross to stem the flow of runs, and Ecclestone then took care of the middle order to make sure Lancashire ended on the winning side. Satterthwaite chipped in with the wickets of Suzie Bates and Paige Scholfield to return 2/14.
Loughborough Lightning v Yorkshire DiamondThe result of this game didn’t really matter, as Loughborough were already in the semi-finals, and Yorkshire had been eliminated. But Yorkshire did raise their game to end their season on a high and hand Loughborough defeat, arresting their momentum ahead of the big day.
Batting first after winning the toss, Yorkshire rode on a superb 50-ball 76 from Beth Mooney at the top to score a moderate 148/6. Mooney took her time, but she didn’t really have an option, with none of the other batters doing particularly well. Bess Heath, who partnered Mooney for 65 runs for the second wicket, was the only other major contributor, but her 24 took 30 balls. For Loughborough, left-arm medium pacer Linsey Smith and right-arm pacer Kirstie Gordon picked up two wickets apiece.
Loughborough’s chase of the small target didn’t start badly, with Rachael Haynes (47) and Sophie Devine (22) adding 30 for the first wicket and Haynes then going on to add 53 for the second wicket with Amy Jones (13). Once Haynes and Elyse Villani (26) fell, though, the chase fizzled out as the Yorkshire bowlers tightened the noose. Katie Thompson (2/18), Thea Brookes (2/23) and Alice Davidson-Richards (2/17) were outstanding on the day and ensured a good finish for their team.
With Storm losing to the Stars, Loughborough held on to the top spot, though, while Yorkshire finished fifth with 15 points.