Head Coach Andy Tennant has named an unchanged squad of thirteen to make the journey to Blackpool this weekend, where Sunrisers face Thunder in the Charlotte Edwards Cup.
The showdown between the fifth and sixth placed teams will give a strong indication of who will challenge for a place at this year’s finals day, with only this and three other games left of the group stage.
Sunrisers were beaten by a strong Stars side at Lord’s on Thursday, and will be eager to show that the performance was a minor blip in the quest to compete at Finals Day for the first time in their history.
Flo Miller top-scored with an unbeaten 39*, taking her average up to 97 for this summer’s Charlotte Edwards Cup in what has been an impressive summer so far for the young middle-order batter.
The total of 116/8 was not enough on a sunny afternoon at the Home of Cricket, although Jodi Grewcock gave some hope when she removed both Stars openers in the seventh over.
Abtaha Maqsood marked her first appearance of the season with a wicket, when she claimed a caught and bowled chance to dismiss Franklin, and will be looking to stamp her mark on the rest of the tournament, starting with Sunday’s trip up north to Blackpool.
Thunder head into the game after a heavy defeat to Southern Vipers at Old Trafford yesterday afternoon, with the defending champions beating their hosts by seven wickets. Thunder struggled with the bat, posting only 85, before Vipers chased it down in the eleventh over.
England stars Sophie Ecclestone and Kate Cross have been regular features in their lineup over the past few matches, and Australian overseas Katie Mack returns to the side after making a strong start to life in the North West.
The game starts at 1.00pm at Blackpool Cricket Club. Tickets are still available to buy online, priced at £5 for adults and £1 for U18s.
If you can’t make it to the game, make sure you tune in to watch the free live stream on Lancashire’s YouTube channel, alongside updates on our social media channels. We wish a safe travel to those of you making the trip.
Sunrisers have named the following squad:
Grace Scrivens (captain)
Amara Carr
Kate Coppack
Jo Gardner
Eva Gray
Jodi Grewcock
Nicola Hancock
Lissy Macleod
Abtaha Maqsood
Flo Miller
Sophie Munro
Amu Surenkumar
Mady Villiers
Up next
We return to Lord’s on Thursday to face Blaze, who are going well towards the top of the table, ahead of Middlesex’s Vitality Blast match against Essex. You can buy tickets for the double-header on our website.
We then head to The Oval to face Stars in Stars’ first stand-alone T20 fixture at the world-famous ground on Saturday 15 June. It would be great to have a large section of Sunrisers support on the day! Tickets are available to buy online at £10 for adults, and £1 for U16s.
The group stage concludes with a home game at Chelmsford against Western Storm, which gets underway at 11.30am on Wednesday 19 June.