Match Preview: Western Storm v Thunder
THE MATCH
Western Storm take on Thunder in the Charlotte Edwards Cup at Sophia Gardens on Wednesday.
This T20 match will get underway at 2:30pm.
Tickets are still available for this match and can be purchased via the link below.
HOW CAN I KEEP UP TO DATE?
You can keep up to date via the Western Storm website.
In addition to this, a report on the day’s play along with quotes will be posted on this website.
HEAD TO HEAD
Western Storm are currently third in Group B with five points from three matches whilst Thunder are top of the group with nine points from the same number of fixtures.
When the two sides met earlier in the competition at Boughton Hall Avenue it was Western Storm who came out on top by nine wickets (D/L method).
Thunder won the toss and elected to bat.
Two wickets apiece from Lauren Parfitt, Danielle Gibson and Fi Morris ensured that the hosts were restricted to 110 for eight from their 20 overs.
Rain meant that Storm were chasing a revised total of 33 from five overs.
19 from just eight balls from Morris helped see the visitors to a comprehensive victory courtesy of Duckworth Lewis.
TEAM NEWS
Head Coach, Mark O’Leary will pick the starting XI from the following players: Sophie Luff (c), Fi Morris (vc), Katie George, Georgia Hennessey, Danielle Gibson, Nat Wraith, Alex Griffiths, Nicole Harvey, Lauren Parfitt, Lauren Filer, Mollie Robbins, Emma Corney, Steph Hutchins, Emily Edgcombe, Niamh Holland and Bethan Gammon.
VIEWS FROM THE DRESSING ROOM
Ahead of the fixture, Mark O’Leary said: “We’ll be going into the rest of this competition looking to dominate every game we play. As it stands, we have no injury worries so we’ll be picking from a full strength squad. We’ll be training hard this week and the players are raring to go.
“We will be focusing on winning all of our remaining games and getting to Finals Day. To do that we need to get our fundamentals right and execute what we’ve been planning. If we do that we’ll be in with a chance.
“This will be our first game in Cardiff and hopefully there will be a good crowd there. It will make me very proud to be coaching the Western Storm in my home country.
“It was a big game for us the last time that we played Thunder. We’d lost the previous game and we needed to bounce back. It was a game that could have gone either way but in the end we dominated the match. It will be great to play them in a full game and hopefully we can come out on top again.”
THE OPPOSITION
THUNDER
Coach: Paul Shaw
Captain: Alex Hartley
Overseas: Piepa Cleary (Australia – full competition)
Key player: Emma Lamb – Dynamic opening batter and canny off-spinner who has already scored a century for the Thunder in 50-over cricket this summer. Her game looks ideally suited to T20 cricket.
Flies under the radar: Piepa Cleary – Australian overseas all-rounder with nearly 50 WBBL appearances for Perth Scorchers Down Under. Steadying influence with ball (seamer) and bat in a young Thunder side.
Rising Star: Hannah Jones – Contracted left-arm spinner, 22, has played second fiddle to England’s Sophie Ecclestone in early stages of 50-over campaign. Now is her time to shine. Lovely, languid action like Ecclestone.
The Season Ahead: The Thunder’s aim at the start of the summer, including the 50-over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, was to further develop their young squad and bloody some noses of the more experienced teams along the way. A haul of two wins in four matches is a profitable return, especially as it included a win over previously unbeaten Central Sparks at Worcester the Saturday before last. The aim will be the same again for Paul Shaw, Alex Hartley and co, and they will get a shot at arguably the biggest scalp immediately when they open the competition with a trip to Emerald Headingley to face ‘Roses’ rivals Northern Diamonds on Saturday afternoon. Kate Cross and Sophie Ecclestone will miss at least the early stages of the competition due to England one-day duty. Having only recently dropped the ‘North West’ prefix to their title, they are now just known as Thunder.
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
If you are attending the match please visit the Official Glamorgan CCC website for further matchday information.
NEXT MATCH
Western Storm’s next match is on Saturday August 28th when we travel to Emirates Riverside to take on Northern Diamonds in the Charlotte Edwards Cup.
