Another day in the Heyhoe Flint Trophy, another starring role for Charlotte Taylor

NICK FRIEND AT BECKENHAM: The competition's leading wicket-taker last year is continuing from where she left off; her arm-balls have emerged as kryptonite to batters since being handed her Southern Vipers debut last September

Southern Vipers complete straightforward victory over South East Stars

When the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy first kicked off late last summer, Charlotte Taylor wasn’t in Southern Vipers’ immediate plans. It was only when injuries kicked in and she was called up as a replacement that her opportunity came; even then, she was initially due to be on commentary duty for BBC Radio Solent on the day of her debut.

A trophy later, Taylor is the competition’s all-time leading wicket-taker, still seemingly with a whiff of mystery about her brand of off-spin. By her own admission, there are bigger turners of the ball. But the drift of her arm-ball has proven unpickable over the course of seven games spread between last September and the final weeks of this month, swinging tantalisingly away from the nervous prods of batters searching for spin that has rarely been forthcoming.

On a glorious Bank Holiday Monday in Beckenham, one of the country’s more picturesque venues on a day like this, Taylor’s opening burst went a long way to maintaining Vipers’ unbeaten record in this tournament.

Given the new ball to assist her movement through the air, Alice Davidson-Richards and Sophia Dunkley – both hoping to use these early rounds as a springboard for international recognition – fell into the same trap, their hands following the ball as it hooped away from twin defensive pokes just three Taylor deliveries apart. One landed in the hands of a slip fielder stationed precisely with that uncertainty in mind, the other edge was thinner and taken well by Carla Rudd.

And just like that, two thirds of South East Stars’ highly regarded top three had fallen without scoring – not that they are alone in struggling to counter the wile and guile of a 27-year-old, who was mainly picked for her batting before an cruciate ligament injury forced a swift – and fruitful – reassessment of her craft.

^{Danni Wyatt and Georgia Elwiss led Southern Vipers to victory}

Taylor works in customer service for an aerospace company and was an unassuming, unlikely star of last year’s final. When it was announced that Sky Sports would broadcast the showcase occasion from Edgbaston, she was still 10 days away from her Vipers bow. And while it might feel unfashionable in this era of white-ball cricket – where high-pace is championed and the likes of Issy Wong are considered the future – to begin proceedings with a bowler like her, its success here was indisputable.

At one stage, she sent down consecutive wicket-maidens, adding the scalp of Alice Capsey – the talented teenager – to her growing list. Capsey, for whom much is hoped, was beaten in the flight and sliced to backward point, while Tash Farrant became her fourth victim when she holed out to mid-on.

Unquestionably, she bowled well in the final victory over Northern Diamonds: after all, you would have to go a long way to find a six-wicket haul that wasn’t the result of some fine bowling. But this looked a more skilful spell, dominating to such an extent early on that Georgia Adams might have been tempted to bowl her 10 overs straight through.

All told, the wicket of Stars captain Farrant was her 20th in seven appearances and her fifth of the season. That efficiency set the tone for the reigning champions, whose foot never left the throat of Johann Myburgh’s charges thereafter: from 24 for 3, they limped to 137 before Charlie Dean’s second wicket ended the innings with 61 balls left unused.

There were also seven overs of Danni Wyatt’s lesser-spotted off-spin, which included the dismissals of Aylish Cranstone and Grace Gibbs, the only players who spent more than 50 deliveries at the crease. Bryony Smith used up just 38 balls for her 41, an enterprising knock at its best when Tara Norris strayed onto her hip.

Otherwise, however, this went as billed: another W in the column of the region to beat. There was a rare failure for Adams – her first single-figure score since the domestic revamp took place – and Maia Bouchier chipped to Dunkley at midwicket for just 13. That was the highpoint of a difficult afternoon for Dunkley, who deserves a proper summer’s international cricket, having waited long enough for her chance before a smattering of appearances against West Indies and New Zealand over the last eight months.

Her hundred on Saturday in a brutal victory over Sunrisers was a far greater testament to her talent than this occasion – one to write off as a rare shocker: a two-ball duck later followed by dropped catches in successive balls to reprieve England pair Wyatt and Georgia Elwiss. Not that it would likely have made a difference to the end result, such was Vipers’ dominance by that point. Interestingly, Dunkley was not among the seven bowlers called upon, with leg-spin duties left to Dani Gregory instead.

Wyatt, on the other hand, continued her record of only ever having passed fifty in her four competition appearances – an encouraging return after a difficult winter in England colours.