KIA Super League Preview: Western Storm v Lancashire Thunder
THE MATCH
Western Storm continue the defence of their Kia Super League title when they take on Lancashire Thunder at the Cooper Associates County Ground tomorrow (Thursday).
Play is due to get underway at 4:30pm
Tickets are still available for this match and can be purchased here.
Tickets will also be available from the St James Street and Priory Bridge Road gates on Thursday at a cost of £5 for adults and £1 for Under 18s.
HOW CAN I KEEP UP TO DATE?
You can keep up to date with the action Twitter
In addition to this a report on the day’s play along with quotes will be posted after the close.
HEAD TO HEAD
The teams have met on three occasions with Western Storm winning all three.
The first meeting between the two sides was at the Cooper Associates County Ground in 2016. After winning the toss Lancashire elected to bat but were dismissed for just 83 in 18.3 overs. Stafanie Taylor was the pick of the bowlers, claiming four for 14 whilst Heather Knight took three for 11.
Western Storm reached the required total from 15.3 overs to win by four wickets.
In 2017 Storm Skipper Heather Knight once again elected to field at the Brightside Ground, Bristol. Two wickets for Freya Davies helped to ensure that Lancashire were restricted to a total of 122 for five. Amy Satterthwaite top scored for the Thunder with 44 from 41 balls.
Rachel Priest once again excelled for the Storm as she blasted her way to 52 from just 26 balls as Storm eased their way to victory by five wickets and a place in the semi-final.
Earlier this season Western Storm again came out on top, this time by seven wickets at Emirates Old Trafford.
After winning the toss and electing to field, Storm limited their hosts to 153 for seven. Amy Satterthwaite was the cornerstone of the innings, making 85 not out from 57 balls.
Western Storm reached their required total for the loss of just three wickets as Smriti Mandhana smashed her way to 102 from just 61 balls.
TEAM NEWS
Head Coach, Trevor Griffin will pick the starting XI from the following squad:
Heather Knight, Anya Shrubsole, Fran Wilson, Stafanie Taylor, Smriti Mandhana, Rachel Priest, Sophie Luff, Freya Davies, Claire Nicholas, Lauren Parfitt, Danielle Gibson, Lissy McLeod, Amara Carr, Naomi Dattani and Rebecca Silk.
VIEWS FROM THE DRESSING ROOM
Ahead of the match Head Coach, Trevor Griffin said: “I couldn’t have asked any more from the players in the defence of our title so far. We’ve had a tough week with lots of travel and four games in about nine days so to have performed as well as we have has been really pleasing. What’s really exciting is that I don’t feel like we’ve played our best cricket yet.
“We’ve had a great start to the competition but we certainly won’t be getting complacent. We most certainly won’t be taking Lancashire Thunder for granted and it won’t be an easy game.”
IS THIS MATCH INCLUDED IN MY MEMBERSHIP?
This match is included in 2018 Somerset and Gloucestershire Membership categories.
WHAT TIME DO GATES OPEN?
Gates will open at 3:30pm with play due to get underway 4:30pm.
PLANNING YOUR JOURNEY
All the information that you need about getting to the Cooper Associates County Ground can be found by clicking here
