Southern Vipers’ fixtures for next season are finally here, kicking off with the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy against Sunrisers at The Ageas Bowl on Saturday 22nd April, with the Charlotte Edwards Cup beginning a month later on Tuesday 23rd May against South East Stars.
With one group of seven matches, we look ahead to our opposition and take a look at our recent history against them.
South East Stars: Tuesday 23rd May – Venue TBC
The Vipers will kick-start their Charlotte Edwards Cup title defence against the 2021 champions and 2022 semi-finalists South East Stars at home on Tuesday 23rd May.
The two sides didn’t see eye to eye in the competition last year, but the Vipers came out on top when the two sides first met in Twenty20s in 2021, with a victory by seven wickets as Georgia Adams and Maia Bouchier both struck fifties opening the batting.
A bout at Hove in the 2022 Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy saw the Vipers pile on the runs as Georgia Elwiss made an outstanding 115, with Emily Windsor blasting 90 runs in just 82 balls.
Wickets from former Vipers Paige Scholfield (3-29) and Tara Norris (2-28) ensured victory was wrapped up by 133 runs.
Western Storm: Friday 26th May – The Ageas Bowl
A side that the Vipers didn’t face at all in 2022, the two teams will meet again for the first time since June 2021 at The Ageas Bowl as part of an action-packed double header with Hampshire Hawks.
The reigning champions emerged victorious in the last match the two sides played, a day-night Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy game at Taunton.
Storm were skittled for 177 with Lauren Bell and Charlie Dean both picking up three wickets, before Georgia Adams continued her stellar record against the team in green with 77 to go with her 154 in 2020.
Maia Bouchier ended on 57*, seeing the Vipers home to an eight wicket win.
The Blaze: Monday 29th May – Incora County Ground, Derby
Another T20 double header for the Vipers, this time in the east midlands, as they take on the newly rebranded Blaze.
The two sides met three times in 2022, with the Vipers coming first on all three occasions, with two emphatic wins in the Charlotte Edwards Cup.
Lauren Bell would’ve given a few then-Lightning batters nightmares after she picked up career-best T20 figures for the Vipers, as her 3-12 in four overs dismantled the visitors’ top order, as she dismissed Marie Kelly in the first over, Sarah Bryce first ball, and then England’s Tammy Beaumont with a heatseeking inswinging yorker that sneaked through the right-hander’s drive.
Danni Wyatt then smashed her way to 76 off just 44 balls as the Vipers chased down 142 inside 17 overs, as Elwiss took 3-28 as Lightning collapsed from 52-5 inside five overs.
Thunder: Wednesday 31st May – The Ageas Bowl
Another team that the Vipers beat all three times last year, with two safe T20 victories.
In the opening match of the season, Anya Shrubsole, Freya Kemp, and Nancy Harman all made their senior debuts for the Vipers, and wickets were shared as Thunder were restricted to just 102-7 having elected to bat first.
The skipper got things underway with the first six of the season, as she finished on 34 off 27, and Maia Bouchier clattered her way to 48* off just 33 balls as she hit the winning runs in the 14th over with eight wickets in hand.
An even better bowling display up at Old Trafford saw the home side kept to only 94-6 in their 20 overs, with Charlie Dean picking up 3-16 whilst Freya Kemp took 2-20.
Georgia Elwiss anchored the innings with 38*, and she drove Laura Jackson through extra cover for four to seal a bonus point victory as the Vipers continued their unbeaten run in the Charlotte Edwards Cup.
Central Sparks: Saturday 3rd June – Edgbaston
A rematch of the 2022 final, the Vipers will play in another double header at the home of T20 finals day.
At Northampton, it was another comfortable victory for the Vipers, as the Sparks could only muster 109-8 in their innings having chosen to have first dig.
Charlie Dean took 2-19, whilst Freya Kemp and Georgia Adams picked up a wicket and restricted the runs.
A quickfire 20 (10) from Danni Wyatt was followed up with 32 from Bouchier, before Ella McCaughan ended on 30*, clipping the winning runs through square leg as the Vipers brought Lottie home for the first time.
Northern Diamonds: Sunday 4th June – Headingley
On the road the very next day, the Vipers return to Headingley against their nemesis, the Northern Diamonds.
The team in blue may have got the edge in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy last season, but it was the orange and black that reigned supreme in the Charlotte Edwards Cup, with two close-fought contests.
At Chester-le-Street, the Vipers were bowled out for just 126, with Danni Wyatt top scoring with a crucial 48, with Adams the next best on 24.
A strong start by the Diamonds was breached by a direct hit from Tara Norris, and the comeback had started.
Shrubsole bowled her former England teammate Nat Sciver for just four, before Harman, Adams, and Elwiss got in on the act, and Freya Kemp finished proceedings off bowling returning Viper Linsey Smith with the final ball of the game, and the visitors had won by just 11 runs.
Wyatt then starred once more at The Ageas Bowl, in front of a record Charlotte Edwards Cup crowd, as her quickfire 35 (16) helped the Vipers to a six wicket win to finish the group stage unbeaten in six matches.
First though, it was Charlie Dean who did the damage to the Diamonds, taking 2-24, with the wicket of Bess Heath in her first over, followed up by pinning Sterre Kalis lbw for 21.
An onslaught from Wyatt early on meant Adams could settle in, as she hit seven fours and a six in her 47, before Ella McCaughan chipped Linsey Smith back down the ground for four to win in the penultimate over.
Sunrisers: Wednesday 7th July – 1st Central County Ground, Hove
A side that the Vipers have never played in the Charlotte Edwards Cup, the Sunrisers make the trip to Hove for the maiden battle between the two sides in Twenty20s.
In the 2022 Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, the Vipers came out on top, but not without difficulty.
Sunrisers’ Kate Coppack skittled the home side’s top order as she took 4-48 in nine overs, and the Vipers slipped to 38-5 inside nine overs.
Paige Scholfield and Chloe Hill steadied the ship and rescued the innings with a partnership of 105 for the sixth wicket, as both players recorded their maiden half-centuries for the Vipers.
All-rounder Scholfield fell for 74 off 72 deliveries, whilst Hill stuck it out with 55 off 110.
Cameos from Tara Norris (19), Nancy Harman (15*), and Lauren Bell (17) helped the Vipers to 233-9.
A strong start from the Sunrisers was hampered by who else but Charlie Dean.
She first snuck through Grace Scrivens’ defences, before bowling Naomi Dattani for 34 which started a bit of a collapse for the Sunrisers.
Mady Villiers was the next to fall for nine, also bowled by Dean, before Elwiss had Amara Carr trapped lbw for 8.
Cordelia Griffith anchored the innings with 65 before Adams had her lbw sweeping.
Jo Gardner showed some resistance with a quickfire 43, but it was all too much, as the Vipers crossed the line by 11 runs.
