Lee blasts Stars to thumping win over Thunder

Surrey Stars got their Kia Super League campaign back on track at Emirates Old Trafford today. They beat Lancashire Thunder by 55 runs. It has been the Stars top order that has failed to get them off to a confident start. Both Lizelle Lee and Bryony Smith have struggled up top. Lee had only scored 25 runs before today.

It took Lee a while to get accustomed to the pitch and with two balls of the powerplay left had only scored 8.

As soon as the first four came off her bat there was no stopping her. In her innings, there were 5 fours and 6 sixes that were dispatched to all parts of the ground. Her fifty came from just 27 balls and along with Sarah Taylor, they started to accelerate the scoring.

The pair added 95 to the score from 51 balls. It was the type of partnership that Surrey Stars had been looking for since they beat Western Strom at Cheltenham. In that game, Sarah Taylor scored fifty and she did again today. Like Lee, she would not bat for more than 37 balls but her 51 and Lee’s 70 helped their side to 167 for 8.

Four wickets fell in the last two overs as Surrey Stars looked to post a score over 175. It wasn’t to be but their total was more than enough for their hosts.

Lancashire thunder got off to a slow start with the bat. Nicole Bolton was kept off strike in the early overs and with Eve Jones failing to rotate the strike they started to fall behind.

It was Dane van Niekerk who made the breakthrough as Bolton knew she needed to start hitting big. Harmanpreet Kaur was then run out without facing in the next over. It never looked as if Lancashire Thunder were going to chase down the target. Amy Satterthwaite came in and scored 4 fours in 11 balls, but she was left with too much to do. Lancashire collapsed from 86 for 3 to 112 all out.

It is a result that brings Surrey Stars back into the fold as they have closed the gap on third-placed Lancashire Thunder. They now have four games left and if they can maintain their form there is no reason they can't finish third.