# 2020 Lightning (women's cricket) season

The 2020 season was Lightning's first season, in which they competed in the 50 over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy following reforms to the structure of women's domestic cricket in England. The side finished bottom of the North Group of the competition, winning two of their six matches.
After the ending of the Women's Cricket Super League in 2019, the ECB announced the beginning of a new "women's elite domestic structure". Eight teams were included in this new structure, with Lightning being one of the new teams, replacing Loughborough Lightning and representing the East Midlands. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, only the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy was able to take place. Lightning were captained by Kathryn Bryce and coached by Rob Taylor. They played their home matches at Trent Bridge and Grace Road.

## Squad

Lightning announced their squad on 20 August 2020. Age given is at the start of Lightning's first match of the season (29 August 2020).
| Name | Nationality | Birth date | Batting Style | Bowling Style | Notes |
| Batters ||||||
| Ria Fackrell | England | (1999-09-16)16 September 1999 (aged 20) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| Shachi Pai | England | (1998-10-10)10 October 1998 (aged 21) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| All-rounders ||||||
| Kathryn Bryce | Scotland | (1997-11-17)17 November 1997 (aged 22) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | Captain |
| Bethan Ellis | England | (1999-07-07)7 July 1999 (aged 21) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| Teresa Graves | England | (1998-10-10)10 October 1998 (aged 21) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| Yvonne Graves | England | (1998-10-10)10 October 1998 (aged 21) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| Bethany Harmer | England | (2000-10-30)30 October 2000 (aged 19) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| Wicket-keepers ||||||
| Tammy Beaumont | England | (1991-03-11)11 March 1991 (aged 29) | Right-handed | — | |
| Sarah Bryce | Scotland | (2000-01-08)8 January 2000 (aged 20) | Right-handed | — | |
| Abigail Freeborn | England | (1996-11-12)12 November 1996 (aged 23) | Right-handed | — | |
| Bowlers ||||||
| Grace Ballinger | England | (2002-04-03)3 April 2002 (aged 18) | Left-handed | Left-arm medium | |
| Kirstie Gordon | England | (1997-10-20)20 October 1997 (aged 22) | Right-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | |
| Nancy Harman | England | (1999-07-11)11 July 1999 (aged 21) | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | |
| Lucy Higham | England | (1997-10-17)17 October 1997 (aged 22) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| Sophie Munro | England | (2001-08-31)31 August 2001 (aged 18) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| Leah Kellogg | England | (1992-06-29)29 June 1992 (aged 28) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| Alicia Presland | England | (1999-09-28)28 September 1999 (aged 20) | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| Ilenia Sims | England | (2002-02-10)10 February 2002 (aged 18) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |

## Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy
### North Group

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | T | NR | BP | Pts | NRR |
| 1 | Northern Diamonds | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 23 | 1.000 |
| 2 | Central Sparks | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | −0.285 |
| 3 | North West Thunder | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | −0.515 |
| 4 | Lightning | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | −0.113 |

### Fixtures

* 29 August 2020 10:30 BST Scorecard
| North West Thunder 206/9 (50 overs) | v | Lightning 146 (35.5 overs) |
| Sophie Ecclestone 60* (61) Sophie Munro 3/32 (9 overs) | | Sarah Bryce 52 (69) Sophie Ecclestone 2/29 (7.5 overs) |
* North West Thunder won by 4 runs (DLS) Trent Bridge, Nottingham Umpires: Joanne Ibbotson and Ian Ramage
* North West Thunder won the toss and elected to bat.
* Lightning were set a revised target of 151 runs from 36 overs due to rain.
* Points: North West Thunder 4, Lightning 0
* 31 August 2020 10:30 BST Scorecard
| Northern Diamonds 226/9 (50 overs) | v | Lightning 217/7 (50 overs) |
| Nat Sciver 104 (116) Kathryn Bryce 5/29 (10 overs) | | Kathryn Bryce 71* (81) Nat Sciver 2/30 (10 overs) |
* Northern Diamonds won by 9 runs Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street Umpires: Neil Pratt and Lina Nenova
* Northern Diamonds won the toss and elected to bat.
* Points: Northern Diamonds 4, Lightning 0
* 5 September 2020 10:30 BST Scorecard
| Lightning 226 (49.1 overs) | v | Northern Diamonds 229/8 (48.5 overs) |
| Sarah Bryce 51 (69) Alex MacDonald 2/31 (10 overs) | | Jenny Gunn 50* (72) Lucy Higham 3/38 (10 overs) |
* Northern Diamonds won by 2 wickets Grace Road, Leicester Umpires: Joanne Ibbotson and Sue Redfern
* Northern Diamonds won the toss and elected to field.
* Points: Northern Diamonds 4, Lightning 0
* 11 September 2020 10:30 BST Scorecard
| Lightning 233/8 (50 overs) | v | Central Sparks 227/9 (50 overs) |
| Sarah Bryce 75 (98) Anisha Patel 3/49 (10 overs) | | Marie Kelly 53 (82) Alicia Presland 3/26 (10 overs) |
* Lightning won by 6 runs New Road, Worcester Umpires: Hassan Adnan and Yvette Dolphin-Cooper
* Central Sparks won the toss and elected to field.
* Points: Lightning 4, Central Sparks 0
* 13 September 2020 10:30 BST Scorecard
| North West Thunder 188/9 (50 overs) | v | Lightning 116 (39.1 overs) |
| Natalie Brown 52 (82) Kathryn Bryce 4/38 (10 overs) | | Abigail Freeborn 28 (67) Alex Hartley 4/8 (10 overs) |
* North West Thunder won by 72 runs Aigburth Cricket Ground, Liverpool Umpires: Jasmine Naeem and Tom Lungley
* North West Thunder won the toss and elected to bat.
* Points: North West Thunder 5, Lightning 0
* 19 September 2020 10:30 BST Scorecard
| Lightning 303/5 (50 overs) | v | Central Sparks 248 (49.4 overs) |
| Sarah Bryce 136* (133) Anisha Patel 2/46 (10 overs) | | Evelyn Jones 115* (138) Kathryn Bryce 3/54 (9.4 overs) |
* Lightning won by 55 runs Grace Road, Leicester Umpires: Paul Pollard and Malinda Underdown
* Central Sparks won the toss and elected to field.
* Points: Lightning 4, Central Sparks 0

## Statistics
### Batting

| Player | Matches | Innings | NO | Runs | HS | Average | Strike rate | 100s | 50s | 4s | 6s |
| Grace Ballinger | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 5.00 | 38.46 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tammy Beaumont | 2 | 2 | 0 | 53 | 51 | 26.50 | 63.09 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Kathryn Bryce | 6 | 6 | 1 | 141 | 71* | 28.20 | 65.27 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 1 |
| Sarah Bryce | 6 | 6 | 1 | 395 | 136* | 79.00 | 78.52 | 1 | 4 | 48 | 0 |
| Bethan Ellis | 6 | 6 | 0 | 120 | 62 | 20.00 | 59.11 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 0 |
| Ria Fackrell | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 8.00 | 34.78 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Abigail Freeborn | 5 | 5 | 0 | 167 | 40 | 33.40 | 69.29 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 1 |
| Kirstie Gordon | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2* | 2.00 | 40.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Teresa Graves | 6 | 6 | 0 | 114 | 65 | 19.00 | 89.06 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 1 |
| Nancy Harman | 6 | 6 | 1 | 43 | 21 | 8.60 | 78.18 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Lucy Higham | 6 | 6 | 0 | 42 | 19 | 7.00 | 50.60 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Leah Kellogg | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1* | 1.00 | 10.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sophie Munro | 5 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 2.50 | 35.71 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Shachi Pai | 4 | 3 | 0 | 23 | 9 | 7.66 | 50.00 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Alicia Presland | 4 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 9.00 | 39.13 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Ilenia Sims | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1* | – | 14.28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Source: ESPN Cricinfo ||||||||||||

### Bowling

| Player | Matches | Innings | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | BBI | Average | Economy | Strike rate |
| Grace Ballinger | 3 | 2 | 11.0 | 1 | 60 | 0 | – | – | 5.45 | – |
| Kathryn Bryce | 6 | 6 | 55.4 | 4 | 216 | 14 | 5/29 | 15.42 | 3.88 | 23.8 |
| Bethan Ellis | 6 | 6 | 47.5 | 1 | 210 | 6 | 3/25 | 35.00 | 4.39 | 47.8 |
| Kirstie Gordon | 3 | 3 | 29.0 | 1 | 101 | 3 | 2/40 | 33.66 | 3.48 | 58.0 |
| Teresa Graves | 6 | 4 | 17.0 | 0 | 75 | 3 | 2/17 | 25.00 | 4.41 | 34.0 |
| Nancy Harman | 6 | 4 | 20.0 | 0 | 112 | 2 | 2/54 | 56.00 | 5.60 | 60.0 |
| Lucy Higham | 6 | 6 | 44.0 | 3 | 195 | 8 | 3/38 | 24.37 | 4.43 | 33.0 |
| Leah Kellogg | 2 | 2 | 10.0 | 0 | 45 | 2 | 1/14 | 22.50 | 4.50 | 30.0 |
| Sophie Munro | 5 | 5 | 37.0 | 2 | 163 | 4 | 3/32 | 40.75 | 4.40 | 55.5 |
| Alicia Presland | 4 | 4 | 27.0 | 0 | 114 | 5 | 3/26 | 22.80 | 4.22 | 32.4 |
| Source: ESPN Cricinfo |||||||||||

### Fielding

| Player | Matches | Innings | Catches |
| Grace Ballinger | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Tammy Beaumont | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Kathryn Bryce | 6 | 6 | 4 |
| Sarah Bryce | 6 | 3 | 1 |
| Bethan Ellis | 6 | 6 | 3 |
| Ria Fackrell | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Abigail Freeborn | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| Kirstie Gordon | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Teresa Graves | 6 | 6 | 2 |
| Nancy Harman | 6 | 6 | 1 |
| Lucy Higham | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| Leah Kellogg | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Sophie Munro | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| Shachi Pai | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| Alicia Presland | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Ilenia Sims | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Source: ESPN Cricinfo ||||

### Wicket-keeping

| Player | Matches | Innings | Catches | Stumpings |
| Sarah Bryce | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Abigail Freeborn | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Source: ESPN Cricinfo |||||