Preview: Central Sparks eye Finals Day glory

Central Sparks have silverware in their sights as they prepare to take part in the Charlotte Edwards Cup Finals Day at Northampton tomorrow.

matc

2022-06-10T13:36:57.000Z

Central Sparks have silverware in their sights as they prepare to take part in the Charlotte Edwards Cup Finals Day at Northampton on Saturday.

The Sparks are two wins from glory as they face South East Stars in the play-off at 12pm with the winner meeting Southern Vipers in the final at 4pm.

The play-off is set to be a fascinating and finely-balanced game, the two sides already having beaten each other in the group stage of the competition. The Sparks won by 34 runs at Guildford before the Stars gained revenge with a ten-run (D/L) victort at Edgbaston.

Bears product Issy Wong will be at the heart of the Sparks' strategy, both as pinch hitter and pace bowler, and says the squad can't wait for Finals Day to arrive.

"We have shown what we are capable of and will go into the day with a lot of confidence," she said.

"We know the Stars are a good side and have got good players but we have a lot of trust in our side as well. We are evens with them this season after we beat them at their place and they won at ours so maybe meeting at a neutral venue will show who the real winners will be.

"Finals Day is a great chance for us to shine as individuals and as a team and it's really exciting to see how T20 cricket has developed after the Hundred last season. It's big one for us this weekend and we are all super-excited about it.

"Something we have been very positive about this year is our intent. If the ball is there to hit out of the park, let's try to hit it out of the park. A lot of that has come from the Hundred which has a really big effect on the women's game, especially in T20. This is a really exciting time to be involved in women's cricket and to be a woman in sport."