KSL 2019: Heather Knight, Deepti Sharma lead Western Storm to Women’s Cricket Super League title

Knight and Sharma put on a match-winning stand of 71 runs in just 39 balls as Western Storm chased down a target of 173 with one over to spare

Skipper Heather Knight‘s 53-ball 78 and No.6 Deepti Sharma’s quickfire 22 off 39 balls helped Western Storm claim their second Women’s Cricket Super League, beating Southern Vipers by six wickets at Hove on Sunday.

Knight and Sharma put on a match-winning stand of 71 runs in just 39 balls as Western Storm chased down a target of 173 with one over to spare. Southern Vipers had earlier posted an imposing total riding on Danielle Wyatt’s 42-ball 73 and skipper Tammy Beaumont’s 28-ball 33. However, Southern Vipers only lost away after a good start, managed only 38 runs in their last six overs, losing six wickets.

ALSO READ: Bowling with the Dukes ball has helped Jasprit Bumrah become a lethal weapon

On the contrary, Western Storm were off to a shaky start, losing opener Smriti Mandhana for a golden duck, while Rachel Priest 27 off 22 balls. By the 13th over, Western Stom were 103/4 needing 71 off 45 balls. But Sharma and Knight rallied to take their team home. During her knock Sharma hit seven fours while Knight hit nine fours and three sixes during her match-winning knock.

ALSO READ: Pakistan Cricket Board pumps in Rs 1 billion to domestic cricket

“We’ve had people throughout the order play brilliantly throughout the competition,” Knight said after the win. “Fran Wilson and Sophie Luff have been outstanding for us this year, and Deepti has had some really good cameos, even though she hasn’t had to bat too much.

Wyatt finished the tournament as the highest run-getter with 466 runs in 11 matches including the first century of the tournament, followed by Jemimah Rodrigues who made 401 runs in 10 matches. Mandhana has a underwhelming tournament scoring 268 runs in 11 matches at 24.36.

The bowling tally was led by Western Storm’s Freya Davies with 19 wickets at 13.21 with a best of 4/18.

This was the last edition of the Women’s Cricket Super League with ECB’s new 100-ball format incorporating both men’s and women’s teams from next year. The WCSL, popularly referred as Kia Super League, ran four for seasons.