Lancashire Thunder v Somerset Women, Vitality Blast

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Meg Lanning made her second successive unbeaten fifty to guide Lancashire Thunder to their first victory in this year’s Women’s Vitality Blast. The world-class Australian batter finished on 75 not out off 48 balls as Thunder defeated Somerset by seven wickets in a one-sided match at Emirates Old Trafford. 

It was Somerset’s first defeat in this year’s Blast but the visitors could harbour no grievances.

Having posted a modest 137 for six in their 20 overs, a total in which skipper Sophie Luff made 42, they were powerless to prevent Lancashire reaching their target in 15.3 overs and thereby collecting one bonus point in addition to the four for victory.

Meg Lanning said:

“It's a nice feeling to get the win. I think the first couple of games we've played some good patches of cricket, but just probably couldn't finish it off. So, I think today was a really good all-around performance. I think the bowlers set it up really nicely. 

“We were able to take some wickets through the middle there and peg them back and not allow them to build the partnerships to be able to sort of explode at the back end. 

“So nice to get a win and hopefully that gives us some good momentum. 

“Eve Jones took the pressure off me early. She was really aggressive, took the bowlers on. We felt like with the new ball, it's probably the best time to bat. It was coming on quite nicely, so we wanted to make the most of it. And it was nice to be able to build a few partnerships. 

“I think everyone would say they'd want to open in T20 cricket. It's a good place to bat, especially when the ball comes on pretty well. I certainly enjoyed opening again. I actually haven't batted at three for quite a long time so it was a bit weird the first game. It doesn't really matter too much. You go out there with a pretty similar approach in both roles. 

“I think when you come into a new team and a new comp, you always want to start off well and contribute to the team and win. So, it's nice today to be able to do that, and hopefully it can continue.”