Top performances –
1) Rachel Priest – The veteran keeper continued her form from the last match as she scored a brilliant knock of 72 in just 43 balls. Finally, she is back to her best
2) Smriti Mandhana – Undoubtedly one of the best batters in the world, Mandhana continued her best with the bat as she scored 70 in just 47 balls. Indo and kiwis pair had a partnership of 133 balls.
3) Holie Armitage top-scored with a career-best 59 off 56 balls for Diamonds, the 22-year-old has been impressive in this season.
Summary
Western Storm’s relentless march towards next month’s Kia Super League Finals Day continued with a fifth straight win as openers Mandhana and Rachel priest demolished a 152 target to beat Yorkshire Diamonds by nine wickets at Yorkshire on Thursday
Western Storm On winning the toss, skipper Knight opted to field. Opening the innings for Diamonds, Healy and Skipper Winfield departed early for 12 and 18 respectively. Batting allrounder Hollie Armitage and our own Jemimah Rodrigues tried their best to set a good total. The 22-year-old scored her career-best of 59 and Jemimah played sensible knock of 28 before which helped them to set a moderate total of 151 with the loss of nine wickets in 20 overs.
On chasing the total Mandhana and Priest were off to a great start, both built a match-winning partnership of 133. Rachel priest was more aggressive with 72 in 43 balls and Mandhana was equally good at 70. It was a treat to watch the southpaw smashing all over the park and nice to see veteran Priest back to her best. After a solid partnership, Mandhana was dismissed by Richards on 70. Later Rachel priest finished the proceedings with the chase.
Brief score: Storm 152/1 ( Priest 72, Mandhana 70 ) defeated Diamonds 151/9 (Armitage 59) by 9 Wickets.