Georgia Adams hopes to continue ribbing Charlotte Edwards about keeping the trophy that bares her name at home as Southern Vipers go in search of more silverware this weekend.
The former England captain had an illustrious playing career and success has continued to follow her as head coach of a few domestic sides, including helping Vipers to Charlotte Edwards Cup glory last year.
Edwards’ side are into Finals Day on Saturday at New Road, where they will challenge Thunder at midday with the winners taking on group winners The Blaze later on in the T20 tournament showpiece.
“We’ve got the trophy and we don’t want to let it go,” Vipers captain Adams told the PA news agency. “We give Lottie a lot of stick about the cup being on her mantelpiece at home.”
As well as also winning the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy twice as head coach with the Vipers, Edwards inspired Mumbai Indians to the inaugural Women’s Premier League title in India earlier this year while her teams have finished runners-up in The Hundred in both seasons and the Women’s Big Bash League in Australia.
Asked to pinpoint the reasons for an enviable cricketing CV, Adams highlighted Edwards’ instincts for the game and her unwavering loyalty to the players at her disposal.
“She’s got a sixth sense for cricket,” Adams said. “She understands the game in ways that I’ve probably never known anyone else to be able to.
“Sometimes it’s not great when you’re sat on the sidelines watching with her. She’ll say ‘she’s about to get out’ and you’re like ‘no’ but you know it’s going to happen.
“She’s very good at people management, she’s very clear, she’s honest but in an appropriate manner and she backs you. You see with the teams she steps out to create, they don’t flit around too much.
“If you do have a bad day, you know she’s confident in your abilities and you don’t ever feel under too much pressure to prove your place because you know if you make it into her playing XI then she’s backing you all the way. Her player management is fantastic and we have a lot of fun.”
Vipers defeated Thunder last week during the eight-team group stage en route to finishing runners-up behind Blaze, who will be favourites in Worcestershire after winning all seven matches.
But Vipers will be boosted by the form of Adams, who has flourished since dropping down as opener to the middle order and racked up 228 runs at an average of 57 this season – second only to Bryony Smith’s haul (256).
England recognition has eluded Adams and the 29-year-old is firmly concentrating on matters at hand.
“All my career I’ve had one eye on England but I’ve been very aware it’s an incredibly tough side to get into,” she added.
“As captain of the Vipers, the role is getting quite big now with the professionalisation of the women’s game, that’s got to be my primary focus.”
Vipers will be able to call upon England centrally contracted trio Danni Wyatt, Charlie Dean and Freya Kemp on Saturday. Sophie Ecclestone and Emma Lamb are available for Thunder while Sarah Glenn and Tammy Beaumont can appear for Blaze.
There is no Kate Cross for Thunder or Nat Sciver-Brunt for Blaze as the pair are building their bowling loads for the start of the Ashes series later this month.
IPL: Royals downed by big-hitting Capitals
Rajasthan Royals failed to chase down the Delhi Capitals, who claimed a 20-run victory in the Indian Premier League on Tuesday.
Sanju Samson struck 86 off 46 balls for the second-placed Royals, but the Capitals successfully defended their haul of 221.
Jake Fraser-McGurk's 20-ball 50 set the tone for the Capitals, who are well in the play-off hunt with two matches remaining.
Fellow opener Abishek Porel plundered 65, with Tristan Stubbs adding a useful 41 towards the end of the innings, with Ravichandran Ashwin (3-24) the only Royals bowler to do significant damage.
Kuldeep Yadav (2-25) and Mukesh Kumar (2-30) led the way with the ball for Delhi, with the latter taking the vital wicket of Samson in the 16th over, leaving the Royals with too much to do from 162-4.
Delhi have won three of their last four matches and are making a late run for the play-offs, as one of four teams tied on 12 points.
Data Debrief: Samson soars
It took Samson just 31 minutes to amass 86 runs before he was eventually dismissed, with the loss of his wicket all but ending the Royals' hopes.
In the process, he moved into third place in the IPL run-scorers chart, up from 11th, with 471 runs to his name this season. He trails only Ruturaj Gaikwad (541) and Virat Kohli (542).
Seales takes 5-29 in second innings to help Sussex complete innings and 124-run rout of Derbyshire
Jayden Seales is now the leading wicket-taker after five rounds of the County Championship Division Two after another stellar performance to help Sussex rout Derbyshire by an innings and 124 runs at the County Ground in Derby from May 3-5.
Seales took 1-54 from 14 overs in the first innings as Derbyshire were bowled out for 246 in 63.3 overs after Sussex won the toss.
Luis Reece (50), Blair Tickner (47) and Aneurin Donald (44) were the top run-scorers against 2-6 from James Coles and 2-65, each, from Ollie Robinson and Fynn Hudson-Prentice.
Cheteshwar Pujara then starred with the bat with 113 off 186 balls as Sussex piled up 479 off 109.4 overs in their first innings.
James Coles (72), Tom Alsop (64) and Tom Haines (58) provided good support for Pujara against three-wicket hauls from Daryn Dupavillon and Jack Morley.
Seales then produced an excellent spell of bowling to help restrict Derbyshire to just 109 all out in 26 overs.
He took 5-29 from his eight overs, taking his tally this season to 18 in four games. Danny Lamb also bowled well with 2-10 from four overs.
Full Scores: Derbyshire 246 off 63.3 overs (Luis Reece 50, Blair Tickner 47, Aneurin Donald 44, James Coles 2-6, Ollie Robinson 2-65, Fynn Hudson-Prentice 2-65) & 109 off 26 overs (Jayden Seales 5-29, Danny Lamb 2-10)
Sussex 479 off 109.4 overs (Cheteshwar Pujara 113, James Coles 72, Tom Alsop 64, Tom Haines 58, Daryn Dupavillon 3-89, Jack Morley 3-117, Luis Reece 2-32)
IPL: Yadav century ends Mumbai's losing streak in style
Suryakumar Yadav scored an unbeaten century to lead Mumbai Indians to a seven-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League on Monday.
Yadav hit a sensational 102 not out off 51 balls with six maximums as Mumbai successfully chased a target of 174 with 16 balls to spare, lifting them off the foot of the table.
Despite a slow start to the Indians' innings in which SRH took three wickets in the first five overs, Yadav’s introduction turned things around as he put on a partnership of 143 with Tilak Varma (37 not-out).
Sunrisers had started well, with Travis Head reeling off a quick 48, but Piyush Chawla (3-33) and Hardik Pandya (3-31) limited Hyderabad to 173-8, with Anshul Kamboj claiming his maiden IPL wicket by bowling out Mayank Agarwal.
Pat Cummins finished with a flurry, knocking 35 runs from 17 balls, and the Australia captain helped SRH put the Indians on the ropes when he dismissed Rohit Sharma in the fourth over.
Yet Mumbai would lose only one more wicket as Yadav inspired them to victory that snapped a four-match losing run.
Data Debrief: Yadav star of the show
This was Yadav's first IPL hundred of the season, with his knock including 18 boundaries (12 fours, six sixes), taking him up to 334 runs so far this campaign.
He is 16th in the overall rankings, and some 108 runs behind leader Virat Kohli.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
