LIT vs SES 1st Match Prediction

LIT vs SES Team Previews

The Blaze

The Blaze women's team is going into this match after a heavy loss against Southern Vipers in their last game. In the 55th game of the competition, The Blaze took on Southern Vipers in Loughborough on September 16, 2023. Batting first, the Southern Vipers team succeeded in putting up a big score of 288 runs from 49.5 overs. They were bowled out in the last over of the innings. The Blaze chase never took shape and the entire team was bowled out for a score of 162 runs from 39.1 overs. 

The Sothern Vipers built their innings around their middle order. Several batters scored 40s, 50s, and 60s which took the score to 288 runs. The pick of the bowlers for The Blaze was Grace Ballinger. She picked up a 4-wicket haul for 58 runs from her 9.5 overs. Another bowler that did well for The Blaze was Josie Groves who picked up 3 scalps for 64 runs from her 10 overs. The only other successful bowler for The Blaze was Kathryn Bryce who picked up one wicket and was economical in her spell as well giving away just 36 runs.

The Blaze run chase ran into a rut immediately after they lost the early wicket of Lizelle Lee in the first over of the inning. There was a brief partnership of 67 runs between Marie Kelly and Sarah Bryce for the second wicket. But after this partnership was broken the innings ran into doldrums and never looked like getting close to the target. Marie Kelly was the top run-getter for The Blaze with 56 runs from 62 balls with 5 fours. Kathryn Bryce also scored 36 runs from 44 balls lower down the order. But none of these contributions were sufficient to get the Blaze close to the target. 

South East Stars

South East Stars on the other hand are going into this game with a win in their last game against Central Sparks. This was the 53rd game of the RHFT competition for the 2023 season and it was played at Edgbaston in Birmingham on 16th September. South East Stars women batted first in this game and raised a good total of 283 runs for the loss of 7 wickets from their quota of 50 overs. The Central Sparks women were never in contention for a win and were bowled out for a score of 131 runs from 35.1 overs. South East Stars recorded a comfortable 152-run win in the game.

After the early loss of Alexa Stonehouse in the 5th over of the innings, there was a good partnership for the second wicket between Kira Chathli and the skipper Bryony Smith. Kira Chathli scored 62 runs from 92 balls with 4 fours while Bryoni Smith scored 97 runs from 81 balls with 10 fours and 3 sixes. A super little partnership lower down the order between Chloe Hill and Maddie Blinkhorn Jones ensured that the South East Stars team set a competitive score on the board from their quota of 50 overs.

The Central Sparks women ran into trouble right from the outset during their chase with some early loss of wickets. Although Maddy Green scored 39 runs from 48 balls, none of the other batters contributed much to the total. The pick of the bowlers for South East Stars was Alice Davidson Richards. She picked up 3 victims from her 8 overs for 20 runs. Another bowler also picked up 3 wickets in the innings and she was Ryana MacDonald-Gay. Some other bowlers who picked up one wicket apiece were Alexa Stonehouse, Paige Scholfield, Danielle Gregory, and Bryoni Smith. All the South East Stars bowlers used were among wickets and all of them bowled economically.