KSL TEAM GUIDE: With experienced overseas pros complementing exciting domestic talent, the Midlands outfit are a well-balanced outfit
Overseas players: Chamari Atapattu (Sri Lanka), Hayley Matthews (West Indies), Mignon du Preez (South Africa)
Titles: 0
Finals Days: 2
Coach: Rob Taylor – A left-arm seamer and a capable batsman, Taylor made 100 appearances in county cricket for Leicestershire and 68 in international cricket for Scotland, for whom he secured a place in national folklore when his unbeaten 46 against Kenya in Christchurch secured Scotland’s place at the 2015 World Cup. Head coach of Loughborough MCCU as well as Lightning.
Captain: Georgia Elwiss - An experienced all-rounder with more than 50 England caps to her name, the 28-year-old fast-medium bowler and middle-order batter has been Lightning’s captain since the launch of KSL in 2016. She has represented Melbourne Stars in the last two editions of the Women’s Big Bash League in Australia.
Loughborough have been one of the most successful teams in the KSL since its start in 2016.
In the inaugural KSL, they came third thus qualifying for Finals Day, where they were beaten by five wickets by Western Storm in the semi-final.
In 2017, Loughborough narrowly missed out on a Finals Day spot as they finished fourth in the group, just two points behind Western Storm.
2018 was the year that saw Loughborough Lightning catapult up the league table and finish top of the group thus taking them straight to the final. However, despite their dominance in the group stage, they lost heavily to Surrey Stars in the final by 66 runs.
The players to look out for in the Loughborough Lightning team are West Indies allrounder Hayley Matthews and England spinner Kirstie Gordon.
Matthews already has plenty of KSL experience, having represented Southern Vipers and Lancashire Thunder. At the age of just 21 she is fifth in the ICC T20I allrounder rankings and has played 42 T20Is for the West Indies.
She is one of the world’s most attacking batters, which is demonstrated by her T20I strike-rate of 113.91 and a high score of 107 not out off 62 balls against Ireland. In her 42 T20Is she has also taken 39 wickets at an average of 17.79, with best figures of 4-10.
Matthews has also represented Hobart Hurricanes in the WBBL in Australia and across all four seasons she has scored 737 runs and taken 29 wickets.
After a very impressive 2018 KSL season for the Lightning, Gordon was selected as one of three debutants for the T20 Women’s World Cup last November. On one of the biggest stages in women’s cricket she bowled with great line and length and was one of England’s most consistent bowlers.
In the five matches she played she took eight wickets at an economy rate of 5.15. As a result of her excellent T20 World Cup performances, the ICC named Gordon as one of the five breakout stars in women’s cricket in 2018.
One of Loughborough Lightning’s key strengths is their batting prowess and experience.
All three of their overseas players have many years of international experience, and Matthews and Mignon du Preez have played in major T20 competitions such as the WBBL.
Furthermore, their overseas players are all amongst the world’s most attacking batters. Matthews is in outstanding form and most recently hit 107 not out off 62 balls against Ireland.
Mignon du Preez is arguably one of South Africa’s best ever batters and is a huge figure in the global domestic game. Her WBBL career for the Melbourne Stars has seen her score 714 runs at a strike rate of 102.44.
Sri Lanka captain Chamari Atapattu has had mixed KSL success but her international experience will be vital to complement the young players that Lightning have this season. Atapattu’s stand-out KSL season was for the Yorkshire Diamonds in 2017 where she scored 135 runs in five matches.
Avoiding the batting collapse, which cost them in the big games such as the 2018 KSL final.
If Loughborough Lightning are to go one further and win the KSL for the first time, then they will need to avoid any mishaps in the high-pressure games.
Lighting have a great balance of experienced international players and young emerging talent which is a formula that has worked well for them so far. After reaching the final of last year’s KSL, the Lightning will be more motivated than ever to get their hands on the trophy and they are certainly well equipped this year to do so. Thus, it is likely they will reach Finals Day.
Kirstie Gordon was the leading wicket-taker in the 2018 KSL by taking 17 wickets in 11 matches.
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