Dress rehearsal for Sunday as Vipers take on Litghtning in KSL

Skipper Tammy Beaumont wants Southern Vipers to land some psychological blows when they wrap up their Kia Super League group matches against Loughborough Lightning at the Ageas Bowl on Wednesday (6.30pm).

It will be a dress rehearsal for Sunday at the First Central County Ground Hove when the teams will meet for the right to challenge Western Storm, who won the group with a 100 per cent record, in the final.

Vipers won the first meeting at Loughborough on August 8, squeezing home by two wickets with three balls to spare thanks to Danni Wyatt’s 40 after they had restricted Loughborough to 135 for five in a low-scoring contest.

There is nothing but pride at stake in the return game under the Ageas lights, but Beaumont wants her team to go into Finals Day with a good performance under their belts.

They qualified on Sunday in third place despite losing by four wickets to Yorkshire Diamonds who successfully chased a target of 185 after good contributions from Wyatt (42), Suzie Bates (47) and Beaumont (33) for Vipers.

“It is a dress rehearsal for Sunday and I think it’s a good game for us to have before Finals Day,” said Beaumont.

“We beat them up at their place so it would give us good momentum to take into the semi-final if we could beat them 2-0 in the group stages.

“But we will have to improve on the performance on Sunday. We need to play better than we did against the Diamonds – we should have defended 184 and won that game.”

Beaumont, 28, has also revealed her thinking behind her decision to add to her workload by taking over the gloves from Carla Rudd and keeping wicket in the last four games.

“It was a really difficult decision to make because Carla is such a brilliant keeper and she has never let us down,” said Beaumont, who also has the responsibility of batting in the top three.

“But she bats down at number 10 and we tried to balance the team better.

“It’s a lot on my plate I know but keeping is something I have got to keep my hand in at.

“I have kept for England a few times when Sarah Taylor or Amy Jones have not been there and I do enjoy it.”