League stage scored 90
* during one match for the Surrey Stars.|alt=Nat Sciver batting The tournament began on 30 July at
Headingley in
Leeds, where the
Loughborough Lightning faced the
Yorkshire Diamonds. The Lightning batted first and scored 128 for nine, led by 52 runs from their New Zealand international,
Sophie Devine. The Diamonds began their response well, and their captain,
Lauren Winfield scored 23 runs from just 13 balls before she was
run out. There was some controversy regarding the dismissal; Winfield felt that she had been impeded by the bowler, but the umpires upheld the dismissal. Regular wickets and miserly bowling from the Lightning attack restricted Yorkshire's batsmen, and they were eventually all out for 85, giving the Lightning a 43-run victory. The following day saw two low-scoring matches; the
Surrey Stars were restricted to 85 runs from their 20 overs by an economic
Southern Vipers bowling attack.
Nat Sciver managed to score 36 runs for the Stars late in the innings, but the Vipers scored 66 runs from their opening partnership, including 41 runs from 43 balls for
Georgia Adams to help them towards their target. They won with six wickets and 28 balls to spare. In the other fixture that day, the
Lancashire Thunder reached 65 for four, but then a spell of bowling from
Heather Knight and
Stafanie Taylor for the
Western Storm saw the Thunder dismissed all out for 83 runs. Taylor finished with four wickets, while Knight took three. In their batting response, Knight and Taylor were again the best performers; Knight scored 23 and Taylor 14 as the Storm chased down the total with 27 balls remaining. The Lancashire Thunder took on the Loughborough Lightning in the fourth match of the tournament, and the two teams combined to score over 300 runs.
Amy Satterthwaite scored a rapid 52 runs from 32 balls for the Thunder to help them reach 164 for eight. A combination of good bowling from the Thunder bowlers, and some poor run outs hindered the Lightning's batting.
Sophie Ecclestone took three wickets with her spin bowling as the Lightning collapsed to 77 for eight. A partnership of 69 runs between
Thea Brookes and
Paige Scholfield gave Loughborough a chance at chasing down the total, but late wickets for
Hayley Matthews saw Lancashire win by six runs. The next day, Yorkshire batted first against Surrey and scored 134 for five, largely due to runs from
Hollie Armitage (43) and
Lauren Winfield (29). Surrey's
Alex Hartley was the pick of the bowlers, taking two wickets and restricting the Diamonds to 18 runs from her four overs. In their reply,
Tammy Beaumont,
Bryony Smith and
Nat Sciver all made good starts to help their side chase down the total and give the Stars a six wicket victory with 11 balls remaining. Lancashire Thunder hosted the Southern Vipers in their third match of the tournament. The Vipers batted first and scored 132 for 4, helped by a score of 54 not out from
Sara McGlashan. The Thunder lost Matthews from the fourth ball of their batting innings, but then recovered with a 57-run second wicket partnership between Satterthwaite and
Emma Lamb. The pair were dismissed two overs apart, and Lancashire failed to score the runs they needed, falling 11 runs short of the Vipers' total. A fourth-wicket partnership of 83 runs between
Amy Jones and
Ellyse Perry rescued Loughborough from 31 for three against the Western Storm, and they posted 158 for eight. Storm's captain,
Heather Knight, scored 74 runs in the chase, but received little batting support from her teammates. After Knight was run out, the Storm faltered to eventually lose the game by five runs. Western Storm were in action again two days later, when they hosted the Stars in Bristol. The Stars batted first and scored 161 for six, propelled by an innings of 90
not out from
Nat Sciver. In their chase,
Stafanie Taylor scored 74 not out, and
Lizelle Lee got 53 to help the Storm to victory. In Southampton the next day, the Southern Vipers beat the Diamonds by 54 runs;
Suzie Bates and
Arran Brindle each scored 45 runs for the hosts, and
Linsey Smith then took four wickets to help bowl the Diamonds out for 64. Only
Beth Mooney reached double figures for the Diamonds. A strong bowling performance from
Alex Hartley and
Marizanne Kapp helped Surrey to limit Lancashire to 102 for nine in the next match, with the pair both bowling economically and taking five wickets between them. The Stars chased down the target with more than four overs remaining;
Tammy Beaumont scored 45, and Bryony Smith made 30. scored 78
* for Western Storm in the penultimate round to help them reach the semi-final. In the penultimate round of matches,
Dane van Niekerk made the highest score of the competition, 91 runs, to propel the Loughborough Lightning to 168 for 6, the highest team total of the tournament. During the Surrey Stars' response, van Niekerk was also one of three bowlers to take two wickets to help limit the Stars to 134 runs, and secure the Lightning a place at finals days. The Vipers travelled to Taunton unbeaten before their match against the Western Storm. Batting first, the Vipers reached 137 for 3;
Suzie Bates scored 57 runs and
Charlotte Edwards got 30. In their reply, the Western Storm lost
Rachel Priest early, but two big partnership involving Stafanie Taylor, who scored 78 not out, helped them to victory with 13 balls remaining. The final match of the day pitted the two northern sides against each other in the women's 'Roses' match. Yorkshire batted first in Manchester and scored 166;
Alex Blackwell got 59 runs, and a slow over-rate meant that Yorkshire received six additional runs before the final over. In Lancashire's chase,
Danielle Hazell took four wickets, and
Katherine Brunt took a
hat-trick to bowl the Thunder out for 71 runs. That meant that Yorkshire and Lancashire had each won once during the tournament, and irrespective of results in the last round of group matches, neither could qualify for finals day; both the Southern Vipers and Western Storm would join the Loughborough Lightning. The last round of matches, featuring all three of the teams that had qualified for finals day, determined who went directly to the final, and who would face off first in the semi-final. The Southern Vipers faced the Loughborough Lightning, and batting first a team effort saw them reach 156 for 4; Bates scored 38,
Sara McGlashan got 34* and
Lydia Greenway 29. Despite scores in the thirties from Perry and
Evelyn Jones, a strong bowling performance from the Vipers, in which Linsey Smith and Brindle each took three wickets, saw them to victory by 59 runs. That victory guaranteed the Vipers a place in the final, while the Loughborough Lightning had to face Western Storm in a semi-final. The result of the other match that day was of no consequence to the tournament;
Beth Mooney scored 56 runs for the Yorkshire Diamonds, who scored 118 runs.
Anya Shrubsole finished the match with five wickets for the Western Storm, taking a four–wicket
maiden in the final over of the match. Storm opening batsmen Taylor and Priest shared a 101-run partnership to take their side to the brink of victory before being dismissed from subsequent deliveries, but despite two further wickets, the Storm won by six wickets with 21 balls remaining.
Semi-final scored 52 runs to help the Southern Vipers to victory in the final. The first match of the women's finals day, the Western Storm won the toss and decided to bowl first against the Loughborough Lightning. The Lightning scored 21 runs from the first four overs, before Stafanie Taylor struck twice in the fifth over, dismissing both openers; van Niekerk for 14, and
Georgia Elwiss for 6. A 58-run partnership between Ellyse Perry and
Sophie Devine ensued, though neither scored that quickly. The scoring-rate slowed further after Devine's dismissal for 21 runs, but a late surge from Perry and
Thea Brookes helped Loughborough reach 124 for seven. Taylor finished the innings with three wickets, while Shrubsole and Dibble were both relatively economical, both going for five-runs per over or less. Beginning their chase, the Storm lost Priest early, bowled by van Niekerk for four runs. Taylor and Knight then shared a 57-run partnership before van Niekerk took the wicket of Taylor for 34. Knight remained in place, reaching a half-century before being dismissed in the final over, with the scores level.
Georgia Hennessy came in, and struck four runs from her only ball to secure the victory, and a place in the final, for the Western Storm.
Final Played at Chelmsford after the semi-final, Vipers' captain
Charlotte Edwards won the toss and elected to bowl first. The Western Storm opening batsmen,
Stafanie Taylor and
Rachel Priest started well, propelling the score to 71 without loss after ten overs. In the subsequent over,
Arran Brindle dismissed Taylor for 35, and her miserly bowling helped to slow the Storm's scoring.
Heather Knight and Priest got out soon after one another, scoring 6 and 57 respectively, before the Storm's middle-order batsmen;
Fran Wilson (16*),
Lizelle Lee (6),
Sophie Luff (2) and
Georgia Hennessy (9*), added a few more runs to bring their total to 140 from 20 overs. Brindle and
Tash Farrant were the pick of the bowlers, both conceding less than five runs per over. Taylor, who was named as player of the tournament, was the most effective bowler for the Storm, but even she could only limit the Vipers to six runs per over. ==Results==