Bouchier backs Vipers for third consecutive title

Maia Bouchier's Southern Vipers won the Charlotte Edwards Cup in 2022 and 2023

Charlotte Edwards Cup finals day, County Ground, Derby

Date: Saturday, 22 June Coverage: Listen and follow live text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app

Maia Bouchier says Southern Vipers go into Saturday's Finals Day at Derby confident of winning a third consecutive Charlotte Edwards Cup.

Both semi-finals are a repeat of Wednesday's final group games, when Vipers hammered South East Stars and The Blaze beat Central Sparks.

And Bouchier, who played in both the seven-wicket win over The Blaze at Worcester a year ago and the six-wicket win over Central Sparks at Northampton in 2022, is keen to hang on to the trophy.

Speaking after Wednesday's 113-run win at Hove, she told BBC Radio Solent: "We want to bring Lottie home. That's the aim. You want to play in those moments and high pressure situations."

Saturday's running order at Derby

11:00 BST - First semi-final: The Blaze v Central Sparks

14:30 - Second semi-final: South East Stars v Southern Vipers

18:45 - Final

Both sides could make changes as Vipers welcome back Lauren Bell while the Stars, inaugural winners in 2021, could see the return of Sophia Dunkley, who on Thursday was recalled to the England squad for the forthcoming T20 series against New Zealand.

"They might have big players coming in but so will we," said Bouchier. "We're super excited to meet them again. Hopefully, we'll win that semi and go into the final.

"We did so well, both with bat and ball. Going into the next game, we need to do the same and be positive and put on a decent score."

Despite Wednesday's defeat, Stars finished eight points clear of Vipers in the group, winning seven out of 10 matches.

Paige Scholfield and Sophia Dunkley both made fifties in Stars' win over Vipers at The Oval on 2 June

Stars can also point to having won by six wickets with 11 balls to spare in their previous meeting at The Kia Oval at the start of June.

"We've played some really good cricket in this competition," said Stars coach Johann Myburgh. "We are full of confidence going into the weekend."

He was keen to brush off Wednesday's result, admitting: "We didn't quite execute as well as we can and we dropped one or two catches which is unusual for us. Then we lost a little bit of intent with the bat.

"You can have lopsided victories in T20 cricket and we're not overly concerned. We will review it as a group and then prepare."

In Saturday's first semi, Sparks, runners-up in 2022, meet last year's runners-up The Blaze.

In what is also a rematch from Wednesday, Sparks are hoping for third time lucky after two previous failed attempts to beat The Blaze in this year's competition.

As well as this week's five-wicket defeat at Edgbaston, which cost them third place in the table, they lost by 10 runs at Trent Bridge on 31 May.

"We had a lot to play for in terms of where we finished in the table so it was disappointing to lose," said skipper Eve Jones.

"Now we have Blaze again in the semi-final on Saturday. We have played them a few times so we know what we are up against. We will have a look at what their side could be and make sure we get our match-ups right."

Kathryn Bryce is one of only two players to have gone past 300 runs in this year's competition - the other being Northern Diamonds' Hollie Armitage

But Blaze have the competition's leading run-scorer in Scotland international Kathryn Bryce, who has made four half-centuries in hitting 372 in 10 matches.

"It's lovely batting with Brycey," said her Blaze team-mate Marie Kelly. "She is in such unbelievable form.

"When you are out there with her, she runs so hard that you know the runs are going to keep flowing.

"We meet Sparks again on Finals Day. This was a great to chance to see how different players go about their business and what we might be coming up against. We can prepare and plan really well and hopefully execute the same way."