Eve sparkles in Sparks’ thrilling win

Jones’ unbeaten 136 – the highest score by a woman at the ground – steered her side to a thrilling three-wicket win that had still looked beyond Sparks as late as the last over off which they required 11 runs to triumph.

Earlier Emma Lamb and fellow opener, Seren Smale, shared an opening partnership of 140 – Thunder’s first ever century stand for the first wicket in the competition – as Lamb scored 107 and the hosts compiled a formidable score of 284 for seven.

But the Sparks skipper – from Whitchurch – was the hero of the hour, aided by a crucial knock of 40 from Australian batter Courtney Webb, as she hit the winning runs in the final over to seal a stunning three wicket win. Jones said: “That was a really important win – we have had a couple of losses and in the last game we fell short by one run so to get a win on the board means we’re in the mix again.

“I got 65 in the last game but got in and got out and was really disappointed so I wanted to put that right and I knew if I could stay there as long as possible and build partnerships we would get somewhere close, so I’m really pleased.

“It was really satisfying – I have some good mates up here and still speak to a lot of them and to do it off Crossy (Kate Cross) at the end was really sweet.

“It’s a win that will give us a lot of confidence and I think we can take a lot of positives – they were a good bowling attack who kept asking questions and made it difficult for us. To chase that total down, we can take a lot from it.”