Stafanie Taylor’s 37 not out guided the run chase © Getty Images
Western Storm 101 for 7 (Taylor 37*, Kapp 3-11) beat Surrey Stars 100 for 7 (Dunkley-Brown 30, Shrusbole 3-22) by three wickets
Western Storm will face Southern Vipers in a repeat of last year’s Kia Super League final after they overcame a top-order collapse to beat Surrey Stars by three wickets in the semi-final at Hove.
After restricting Surrey to 100 for 7, Storm lost four wickets for five runs in 10 balls as their run chase got off to a terrible start. But from the wreckage of 17 for 4 in the fourth over, they were led to victory by West Indies allrounder Stefanie Taylor, who made an unbeaten 37 to steer her side home with seven balls to spare.
Surrey’s hopes had been raised by a superb spell from South Africa quick Marizanne Kapp, who took three wickets in four balls. Her offcutter deceived England captain Heather Knight and Fran Wilson was lbw to an inswinger off the next delivery. In her next over Kapp had Sophie Luff brilliantly caught behind by Tammy Beaumont diving to her right, while Rachel Priest was bowled when Nat Sciver got one to nip back through her defences.
But Taylor and Georgia Hennessy settled Storm’s nerves with a stand of 44 for the fifth wicket. Hennessy (21) was bowled by Laura Marsh in the 13th over and Storm were struggling on 67 for 6 in the 15th over when Lissy MacLeod drove to extra cover. Anya Shrubsole hit Alex Hartley for a straight six to get them back on track and although she holed out to deep midwicket, Taylor adroitly kept finding the gaps. She only hit two fours but her 37 off 46 deliveries made the difference.
Earlier, Surrey had struggled to get any momentum after winning the toss. The pitch lacked pace and only Sophia Dunkley-Brown, who scored 30 from 33 balls, got to grips with the conditions and an accurate attack.
England opener Tammy Beaumont needed 17 deliveries to score three runs and later dropped Hennessy before she had scored while South Africa’s Lizelle Lee and England allrounder Sciver failed to build on promising starts. Shrubsole picked up three wickets in the last over to finish with 3 for 22 and was well backed up by Storm’s spinners with Claire Nicholas, who took the new ball, the pick with 1 for 14.
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo