Latest news with #KiraChathli
BBC News
27-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Surrey beat Bears to become T20 Blast champions
Overseas star Grace Harris delivered a sparkling 63 from 33 balls to lead Surrey to a five-wicket victory in the final of the inaugural Women's T20 Blast at The Australian all-rounder grabbed a nervy run chase by the scruff of the neck to guide favourites Surrey over the line after the Bears posted 153-9 in their 20 wicketkeeper batter Kira Chathli hit the winning runs with 20 balls to spare as Surrey secured the trophy in front of their home in the day, the Bears had reached the final by beating The Blaze in the semi-final eliminator with Issy Wong making 59 and taking 4-14. The Bears batted first in the final with Wong again top-scoring for her side with 31 before being bowled by Alexa Harris, the sister of Surrey's Grace, struck a typically ferocious 25 from 11 but the Bears struggled to build Franklin was the pick of the Surrey attack with 2-16, while two run outs helped to further restrict the Bears to 153-9 in 20 suffered early blows in their reply when Danni Wyatt-Hodge holed out to Em Arlott in the deep and Bryony Smith fell to the last ball in the powerplay. They were further rocked when Nat Wraith stumped Alice Capsey off Hannah Baker to leave them Dunkley got Surrey back on course with three boundaries from Millie Taylor's opening over and a six off Baker in the Dunkley was out to a smart piece of work behind the stumps from Wraith, Grace Harris took up the baton to play the match-defining innings, charging to her half-century at a strike rate of 200 and seeing her side home to claim the trophy. Despite losing the final, the Bears could take great heart from a day in which they comfortably beat The Blaze to reach the final, successfully defending a total of 163 to win by 20 was the star of the show but there was also an excellent performance from leg-spinner Millie Taylor who took 3-20 to turn the game in the Bears' favour when The Blaze had looked on course to make a date with Surrey.
BBC News
18-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Surrey march on to Finals Day with win over Bears
Surrey will head to the inaugural Women's T20 Blast Finals Day in fine form after winning their 11th match of the group stage with a 25-run victory over already secured top spot, Kira Chathli top scored with 65 in 31 balls as Surrey piled up 204-5 after being sent chase was as good as over when Bears, who had already qualified for Finals Day themselves, slipped to 39-4 in the seventh over as they could only make The Blaze confirmed second place by beating Hampshire, while Lancashire, also heading to 27 July's Finals Day, tied with Somerset and Essex beat Durham. Surrey have only been beaten once in 14 group matches and easily saw off Bears who went through in struck five sixes in making her first fifty of the competition and Grace Harris struck 37 from 25 balls as Surrey made their second total over 200 this deep trouble early in their reply, Laura Harris hit 42 in just 14 balls for Bears to revive the chase but they could not undo the early damage and fell short on 179-9. The Blaze had also already booked their place at The Oval next Sunday and ended the group stage with their eighth in, Marie Kelly struck nine fours in her 57 from 45 balls and her opening partner Georgia Elwiss made an unbeaten 53 in 46 to help them post were then 13-2 before a stand of 105 between Rhianna Southby, who made 62 from 51 balls, and Georgia Adams, 57 in they were always well behind the asking rate and finished on 137-4 to finish in sixth. Lancashire are the other semi-finalists but finished the group stage with a dramatic tie with start was delayed and the game reduced to 17 overs-a-side after some Lancashire players were held up in traffic trying to get to eventually fielded first and held Somerset to 114-6 as captain Sophie Luff made 36 in 30 then needed 13 off the final over and seven from the last ball, only for Alana King to swing it for six over deep square and earn a tie. And at Chelmsford, Essex signed off their season with a nine-run win over Durham, who could not reach the top four even with Griffith struck 60 from 35 balls to lead Essex to 164-3 having won the Bates gave the chase a bright start with 45 in 39 balls but Essex kept chipping away and Durham ended on 155-8 as they finished fifth in the table. There will be live text commentary of Finals Day on 27 July on the BBC Sport website and app.
BBC News
25-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Dean to captain Spirit in place of injured Knight
England spinner Charlie Dean will captain London Spirit in this year's Hundred in place of Heather Knight, who is recovering from a hamstring injury. Former England skipper Knight led Spirit to their first title last year but has been ruled out for the summer after sustaining the injury in the third T20 against West Indies in 24, previously led Spirit in 2022 when Knight was absent with a hip problem and they finished seventh in the table. Knight will stay with the team in a coaching and mentoring role throughout the tournament and has been replaced in the side by Surrey batter Kira Chathli, who has previously represented Oval Invincibles. "We have a great squad and I know the expectation will be high after winning the competition last year," said Dean, who has been with Spirit since the first year of the tournament in 2021. "I am gutted Heather won't be playing with us this year, but it's brilliant that she'll still be around to help us out. Tapping into her experience and knowledge will be invaluable."Spirit have also appointed Chris Liddle, their former pace bowling coach, as their new head coach, replacing Ashley Noffke who has taken a role with Pakistan's men. A glimpse into England's future? Analysis by BBC Sport cricket journalist Ffion WynneEngland's Ashes thrashing at the beginning of this year led to criticism surrounding most aspects of their game, but also the management behind the scenes - and this included their lack of succession planning for a future captain. Knight had fulfilled the role so consistently for nine years that as speculation about her future started to swirl, many were scratching their heads as to who could be next. In the end, it was Nat Sciver-Brunt, the obvious candidate as Knight's vice-captain and most experienced player, but there were concerns around her workload as an all-rounder and the pressure she is already under as England's superstar. Dean was another name that was thrown into the conversation, and though she admitted it was probably a little bit too soon for her, this is an indication that she is viewed as a future leader. Exposing their younger players to leadership is something that Australia do brilliantly and this suggests England are taking note. The likes of Phoebe Litchfield, Annabel Sutherland and Tahlia McGrath all lead their Women's Big Bash League teams, giving Australia a wealth of options for when Alyssa Healy steps aside.
BBC News
15-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Surrey back on top, wins for Bears & Durham
Tash Farrant and Grace Harris took three wickets each as Surrey moved back to the top of the women's T20 Blast group table with a five-wicket win over home side were going well at Chelmsford as Grace Scrivens (39) and Lauren Winfield Hill (36) shared an opening stand of 75, but lost momentum as Farrant and Harris worked their way through the order and finished on slumped from 67-2 to 85-3 in reply, but Kira Chathli made 40 off 34 balls and a boundary by Alice Davidson-Richards saw them to 150-5 with nine balls the third-placed Bears defeated Hampshire by 13 runs and Durham saw off winless Somerset by four wickets at scorecards Farrant & Chathli make difference for Surrey Essex went into the game against Surrey having lost their previous two, but Scrivens and Winfield-Hill gave home followers cause for optimism with 13 boundaries between them before the former was caught at cover off Dani - who was dropped on seven - followed in the next over when she tried to sweep Harris and top edged to fine leg, but it was a spell by Farrant which sent the innings into bowled Lissy MacLeod behind her legs with a looping yorker and had Cordelia Griffith caught at deep mid-wicket next thought she had a hat-trick as she appealed for leg before against Jo Gardner, but the umpire had spotted a thin edge - but the left-armer (3-20) had Maddie Penna caught in the deep in her next rounded off the innings by taking return catches offered by Gardner and Eve Gray - and there were two in the same over by Esmae McGregor as Bryony Smith and Alice Capsey fell to successive balls to leave them 31-2 in their was further encouragement for Essex when Danni Wyatt-Hodge (21) hit Aftaba Maqsood to mid-off, but Chathli and Harris (31) added 40 in three overs and even though both departed as McGregor returned 3-33, Davidson-Richards and Phoebe Franklin finished the job."We weren't at our best on Wednesday (against the Blaze) but these games come thick and fast. It's important to get back to winning ways as quickly as possible," Farrant said afterwards. Somerset's wait goes on After losing Amelie Munday to the third ball of the game at Taunton, Bex Odgers (36) and Niamh Holland (31) gave Somerset hope of a decent total against Durham with a second-wicket stand of 58 - both of them hitting a six off England's Lauren Filer, Holland's an audacious ramp shot in the fifth though, fell at regular intervals after Holland was caught at long-on off Mady Villiers (2-23) and they were indebted to Amanda-Jane Wellington for a cameo of 31 off 17 balls before she was run out from the final ball of the innings as they posted made a positive start in reply led by Suzi Bates, who eventually fell to Mollie Robbins (3-22) one short of a half century - caught at extra cover - but Bess Heath's unbeaten 38 off 25 balls saw them home on 139-6 with 11 to spare, only their second victory in seven matches. At Edgbaston, the Bears were propelled to a score of 178-7 by 19-year-old Meg Austin's 51 off 38 balls, including seven put on 70 for the first wicket with Davina Perrin (30) before holing out at long on, the first of three wickets in four balls for Daisy Gibb, who had only taken two in five previous appearances. Sterre Kalis hit a glorious straight six in her 35 from 21 balls to keep the runs coming and Natasha Wraith pushed the score on in the closing overs with an unbeaten 38 off missing the injured Ella McCaughan, scorer of a match-winning century against Essex last Thursday, lost Charli Knott and Maia Bouchier early in their reply and a stand of 46 between Georgia Adams (32 off 31) and Rhianna Southby (29) was not enough to keep them up with the required rate and they could only muster 165-7, with wicketkeeper Wraith claiming two stumpings and a catch. Tuesday fixture Utilita Bowl: Hampshire Hawks v SurreyPlay starts 15:00 BST
