Lancashire Thunder enter their second successive game at Old Trafford looking to bounce back from defeat against reigning Kia Super League champions Western Storm.
They were undone by a brilliant individual performance from Indian Smriti Mandhana, who notched her first T20 century and extended her lead at the top of the scoring charts in this years competition.
That was after an excellent display from Thunder’s New Zealand international Amy Satterthwaite who scored 85 from 57 balls, albeit in a losing effort.
Defeat brought an end to Thunder’s run of three successive victories, having previously not won a KSL match since the second game of the inaugural tournament in 2016.
Head coach Alex Blackwell is not taking that loss to heart and is pleased with where her side stand at the halfway point of the competition.
“I’m not too unhappy about the match, we pushed it pretty deep against a fairly unbelievable batter in Mandhana,” Blackwell said.
“We know we can be better but it’s not something that we are going to hang our heads. We probably cost ourselves ten runs with sloppy fielding.
“I’m very proud of how this team is going, we are featuring well on that table and we have done pretty well batting first and batting second.
“I think we’d have taken this position. We are really positive, we know we can play ever better than we have and we came up against a very good side in Western Storm where one player had a day out.”
Thunder will also take positives from the fact that they beat next opponents Surrey Stars just last week, thanks to brilliant batting performances from Nicole Bolton and Harmanpreet Kaur.
Alex Hartley also claimed a wicket against her former side and will hope to get one over old colleagues again at Old Trafford.
Key Players
Harmanpreet Kaur’s home debut was not one to remember for India Women’s captain. She was run out without scoring as her side slipped to defeat, but had happier memories of her Thunder debut at the Oval where she hit a six from the penultimate ball to beat the Stars. Thunder have seen enough of their new recruit to know that she is a key weapon in their side and will hope she can display that on Tuesday.
Team News
Lancashire Thunder (from): Danielle Hazell (c), Kate Cross, Alex Hartley, Sophie Ecclestone, Amy Satterthwaite, Harmanpreet Kaur, Nicole Bolton, Emma Lamb, Ellie Threlkeld, Georgie Boyce, Eve Jones, Natalie Brown, Rachel Dickinson, Alice Dyson, Tash Miles
Surrey Stars (from): Nat Sciver (c), Sarah Taylor, Laura Marsh, Lizelle Lee, Marizanne Kapp, Dane van Niekerk, Bryony Smith, Sophia Dunkley, Grace Gibbs, Hannah Jones, Rihanna Southby, Aylish Cranstone, Eva Gray, Mady Villiers, Gayatri Gole
Weather and Conditions
It’s set to be dry, fine and relatively warm throughout the day at Old Trafford. Despite looking used and slow to the eye, the surface has played well for batting in recent weeks. This will be the first of two matches played on the pitch tomorrow, with Lancashire’s men facing Durham in the evening.
Date: August 7th 2018
Time: 2.30pm
Ground: Emirates Old Trafford
Odds (SkyBet): Lancashire Thunder 11/10, Surrey Stars 8/11
