Western Storm became the first team to win the Kia Super League title twice, repeating their feat from 2017 against the same opposition as they once again pipped Southern Vipers at the post, chasing down their target of 173 with six wickets in hand but only six balls to spare.
Fittingly it was the captain, Heather Knight, who hit the winning runs, punching a four down the ground as she finished unbeaten on 78 from 53 balls having earlier become the only player to top 1,000 runs in the competition. “It was special,” she said.
“I’m really chuffed for the girls. We deserved to win the final, the way we’ve played. It shows the fight of that group of girls – the belief we’ve had and built up over the last 10 group games.”
Storm had wobbled from the first, their star of last season, Smriti Mandhana, departing first ball thanks to a brilliant diving catch by Marie Kelly at mid-on.
While Rachel Priest hung around throughout the powerplay, helping Storm rack up 50 for one, her departure in the seventh over – stumped by Carla Rudd – slowed things. Western Storm then lost Fran Wilson and Sophie Luff in successive overs, leaving them 103 for four in the 13th over with 70 runs still needed.
Western Storm’s dominance in the Super League has been founded on the depth of their batting, though: the side have won more matches than anyone across four years of the KSL, including all but one of their group stage matches this time. That depth proved crucial once again, the No 6 Deepti Sharma finishing with a 22-ball 39 that included a flurry of boundaries at the end to seal the deal.
“I knew it was going to be a tough chase,” Knight said. “We just kept believing, just hanging in there, and we managed to keep the rate below 10 and then Deepti took the pressure off at the end. It’s been a tough summer, so it’s nice to finish on a high.”
Danni Wyatt, who finished as the leading run-scorer with a tally of 466 and was named player of the tournament, had earlier helped Southern Vipers set an imposing total of 172 for seven in their 20 overs, hitting a 42-ball 73.
It followed her effort earlier in the day as Vipers triumphed in a tight semi-final against Loughborough Lightning, chasing down their 144-run target with six balls to spare. It should have been an easy win for the Vipers after the openers Wyatt and Suzie Bates racked up 71 runs in the powerplay, but a mid-innings collapse left them relying on their middle order to finish the job.
That match meant the opening pair had their eye in by the time of the final: they were able to continue where they had left off, plundering 62 from their second powerplay of the day, with even the usually reliable Freya Davies punished for 26 off her opening two overs.
Only an astounding caught-and-bowled from Sonia Odedra, breaking out of her follow-through to fling out her left hand and snatch the ball at full stretch, was enough to cut off Bates in mid-flow as she departed for 26.
Wyatt hung around long enough this time to bring up a 27-ball half-century that included two sixes to leg, but she was eventually dismissed in the 15th over, caught at long-on by Anya Shrubsole going for one big hit too many.
That was the cue for the Vipers’ second middle-order collapse of the day – Maia Bouchier and Tammy Beaumont both also falling in the space of six balls – and it ultimately probably cost them the trophy.
The occasion saw the final curtain fall on the Kia Super League, which is being replaced next season by the Women’s Hundred.
“The KSL has proved that ambitious plans and innovative ways of working can deliver fantastic outcomes,” Clare Connor, the ECB’s director of women’s cricket and the woman who originally conceived the competition, said. “We will take those learnings forward with us over the coming years to ensure that more women and girls can aspire to play cricket at the highest level.”
