Lightning bid to triumph at KSL final’s day

LOUGHBOROUGH Lightning are confident the loss of two key players for the final week of the 2019 Kia Super League will not knock them off course as they attempt to win the competition for the first time at next Sunday’s Finals Day at the 1st Central County Ground in Hove.

West Indies all-rounder Hayley Matthews and Scotland skipper Kathryn Bryce left the Lightning squad following Sunday’s win over Lancashire Thunder at Trent Bridge to join up with their national teams, as had been agreed before the KSL season began.

Lightning will first have to manage without them for their final match of the league programme when they meet Southern Vipers at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton on Wednesday in a televised match with a 6.30pm start in what will serve as a dress rehearsal for their meeting in the semi-final at Hove.

South African fast bowler Shabnim Ismail joins the squad as an overseas replacement for Matthews, while Bryce’s place has to be covered from within the existing squad, but head coach Rob Taylor said: “We’re confident we have enough options to keep our momentum going into Finals Day.”

Lightning, their place at Hove already assured after a run of five wins in six matches, made changes with the duo’s departure in mind at Trent Bridge last Sunday.

Head coach Rob Taylor felt the changes made could not have gone better.

“We wanted to look at a couple of potential Finals Day combinations and the way the girls adapted to new roles we put them in was great,” he said.