Northern Diamonds and Southern Vipers begin Charlotte Edwards Cup 2022 with a bang

Lightning vs Northern Diamonds

Northern Diamonds' skipper Hollie Armitage won the toss and elected to bat first on a batting track at the Haslegrave Ground in Loughborough. The opening duo of Lauren Winfield-Hill and Abigail Glen gave a bright start to the Diamonds' innings as they put together a 56-run stand in just 32 deliveries.

Glen got out at an individual score of 25 but Winfield-Hill carried on. Armitage joined Winfield-Hill in the middle and the pair took the attack to the Lightning bowlers. Winfield-Hill missed out on her century by a whisker.

She scored 96 runs off 51 balls, including 12 fours and four sixes. She stitched an 89-run stand with her skipper, who herself scored an unbeaten 40*. Diamonds posted 177 runs on the board for the loss of five wickets.

In reply, the opening pair of skipper Tammy Beaumont and Marie Kelly also provided Lightning a solid start. They aggregated 79 runs in 10.3 overs. But just when it appeared that the pair will take the game away from Diamonds, Beth Langston dismissed Kelly at an individual score of 46.

Despite losing her partner, Beaumont carried on and kept her side in the hunt as she struck a half-century in the 16th over of the innings. But the wheels fell of as soon as Diamonds got rid of Beaumont in the 17th over. Lightning eventually managed to only reach 138 in their 20 overs and lost the contest by 39 runs.

Western Storm vs Central Sparks

Western Storm won the toss against Central Sparks and asked them to put a score on the board at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff. Sparks were in a spot of bother early as skipper Eve Jones and Issy Wong departed without troubling the scorers. Wicket-keeper Amy Jones and Abigail Freeborn got together in the middle to resurrect Sparks' innings.

Two early wickets forced the pair to dig in and hence they didn't score at a brisk pace. Both batters scored fifties and put together a 91-run stand to steady Sparks' ship. Ami Campbell acted as a catalyst towards the end and played a cameo (30* off 17 balls) to help Sparks post a target of 157 runs.

In pursuit of the total, Storm's batters put up a valiant display but it wasn't enough for them to get their team over the finishing line. Skipper Sophie Luff put on a show with the bat for Storm as she scored at a rate of 148.27 during her 43-run knock. Her dismissal put mockers on Storm's run chase as they only reached 136 for the loss of six wickets at the end of their innings.

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Southern Vipers vs Thunder

Georgia Adams' Vipers routed Thunder in a low-scoring affair at The 1st Central County Ground in Hove by eight wickets. Electing to bat first, Thunder never managed to get going against the disciplined bowling attack of Vipers. The pair of Charlie Dean and Freya Kemp strangled the Thunder batting line-up as they picked two wickets each and restricted them to 102 in 20 overs.

Although, Vipers lost opener Ella McCaughan on the fourth delivery of their innings, it didn't derail their run chase at all. Skipper Georgia Adams (34 off 27 balls ) and Maia Bouchier (48* off 33 balls) helped Vipers' cause as the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy winners of last season romped home with ease in just 13.3 overs.

Sunrisers vs South East Stars

Skipper Bryony Smith's decision to field first worked wonders for Stars as they beat Sunrisers by six wickets at the The Cloud County Ground in Chelmsford. All the top-five batters for Sunrisers got starts but none of them could capitalize on it. Sunrisers kept losing wickets at regular intervals and eventually managed to post 122 runs on the board.

Stars rode on a watchful half-century from opener Aylish Cranstone to chase the target in 16.5 overs. Cranstone scored 56 runs off 46 balls, including seven fours and one maximum. Unfazed by losing partners at the other end, she carried on her merry way and took her side home. She was bolstered by an unhurried 26 run-knock by wicket-keeper Kira Chathli.

Brief Scores:

Northern Diamonds 177 for 5 in 20 overs (Lauren Winfield-Hill 96; Kathryn Bryce 2/44) beat Lightning 138 for 7 in 20 overs (Tammy Beaumont 59; Emma Marlow 2/12) by 39 runs

Central Sparks 156 for 4 in 20 overs (Amy Jones 52, Abigail Freeborn 52; Danielle Gibson 2/37) beat Western Storm 136 for 6 in 20 overs (Sophie Luff 43; Issy Wong 2/28) by 20 runs

Thunder 102 for 7 in 20 overs (Emma Lamb 23; Freya Kemp 2/13) lost to Southern Vipers 103 for 2 in 13.3 overs (Maia Bouchier 48*; Emma Lamb 1/6) by eight wickets

Sunrisers 122 for 6 in 20 overs (Cordelia Griffith 26; Emma Jones 1/2 ) lost to South East Stars 123 for 4 in 16.5 overs (Aylish Cranstone 56*; Joanne Gardner 1/15) by six wickets