Loughborough Lightning have secured their place in the Kia Super League final despite a final-game loss to Yorkshire Diamonds.
Joining Loughborough at Hove on the 27th of August are Surrey Stars and Western Storm who will face off in the semi-final for the right to face Georgia Elwiss' team in the final.
Stars and Storm to meet again at Finals Day
Surrey defeated Heather Knight's Storm on Saturday to secure a third-place finish and their Finals Day place.
Skipper Knight top scored for her side with 62 from 47 deliveries but the Stars chased the target of 159 with two balls to spare and five wickets in hand.
Lizelle Lee (48) and Bryony Smith (39) set the platform with a 90-run partnership for the first wicket.
Defeat for the defending Champions meant a second-place finish, three points behind the leaders.
Loughborough have booked their place in the final
Thunder's Vipers victory in vain
Surrey's victory meant that Lancashire Thunder miss out on Finals Day despite their win over bottom side Southern Vipers.
Lancashire needed to win and rely on Surrey losing their final fixture for a chance to progress.
Harmanpreet Kaur's unbeaten 44 from 20 balls helped set the Vipers a target of 163 which would prove to be too much.
Sophie Ecclestone claimed 4 for 20 as Danielle Hazell's team were bowled out for 153 but there will be no trip to Hove for Lancashire courtesy of that Surrey victory.
Diamonds down Loughborough
Yorkshire Diamonds secured a notable consolation win against Kia Super League table-toppers Loughborough Lightning at Emerald Headingley.
The Diamonds fought superbly with the ball and in the field to defend a target of 149 and secure their third win.
The Lightning have still qualified directly for the final at Hove a week on Monday, where they will play the winner of the semi-final between Surrey Stars and champions Western Storm.
The defending champions are back for a third consecutive Finals Day
The visitors looked in control at 83 for one after 10 overs and 122 for three after 16.
But Alice Davidson-Richards and spinners Thea Brookes and Katie Thompson were key in turning the game.
Left-arm spinner Thompson, in her first game of the campaign, was the pick of the bowlers with two for 18 from her four overs as the Lightning failed to get 14 off the last and finished on 145 for six, losing by three runs.
Australian opener Beth Mooney underpinned the Diamonds’ 148 for six with 76 off 50 balls, while left-arm spinners Linsey Smith and Kirstie Gordon claimed two wickets apiece.
The much-changed Diamonds, who handed first KSL appearances of 2018 to Sophie Munro and Thompson, posted a competitive total, centred around Mooney’s second half-century.
She was strong on both sides of the wicket and hit 10 fours.
But only youngster Bess Heath was able to provide notable support with 24.
They shared 65 inside 10 overs for the second wicket to advance from 19 for one in the third when Smith bowled home captain Lauren Winfield.
Smith also uprooted the middle stump of Yorkshire’s second Australian, Delissa Kimmince, who later bowled the last over of the match against Georgia Adams and Lucy Higham.
Yorkshire Diamonds secured a notable consolation win over table-toppers Loughborough
Gordon had Thea Brookes stumped for one and later Mooney caught low down at cover by Haynes.
Yorkshire were well placed at 108 for three after 15 overs and would have wanted more than 40 off the last five. In the end, it was enough.
Lightning skipper Sophie Devine then swept Thompson’s left-arm spin for six at the end of the first over of the chase and hit Beth Langston twice over the ropes in the fourth as the score moved to 30 without loss.
The second six, pulled out to deep backward square-leg was dropped over the rope by Alice Monaghan.
However, two balls later, in the next over, Devine was caught at deep mid-wicket off Brookes’ off-spin (31 for one).
Australia Ashes winning captain Rachel Haynes took on the lead role with 47 before falling as the game tightened up at 95-3 in the 13th over.
She hoisted the seam of Davidson-Richards to deep mid-wicket, where Monaghan atoned for her earlier error.
Haynes had shared 52 for the second wicket with Amy Jones (13), who fell when she chipped Thompson to cover as the score fell to 83 for two at the start of the eleventh.
The Diamonds were without talismanic England all-rounder Katherine Brunt having opted to rest her.
But they were able to build pressure in the second half of the chase, taking the target to 38 off five with Loughborough three wickets down.
Thompson had Elyse Villani stumped at the start of the 17th before Brookes had Georgia Elwiss caught at deep mid-wicket in the 18th (128 for five) as the target became 19 off two overs and 14 off the last.
Davidson-Richards also finished with two wickets.
Copy courtesy of the ECB Reporters Network
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