Lauren Bell returns to bowl her second over. She has a big appeal for LBW against Amy Jones but she is unsuccessful.

A good over is spoiled somewhat as Abigail Freeborn squirts the ball down past a vacant first slip for four.

Too much width from Freya Kemp's final ball and Abigail Freeborn gets off the mark with a welcome boundary.

Freeborn will need to stick around and give Amy Jones support if Sparks are to get to a strong total.

Just the final to go in this year's Charlotte Edwards Cup. Who do you think has been the competition's MVP? Get in touch and let us know.

Anya Shrubsole into the attack as Goergia Adams rotates her bowlers.

This should be a good contest between her and Amy Jones, who produces a textbook straight drive to grab her first boundary.

Oh, where was the mid-on? Issy Wong spoons up the last ball of the over, but she survives as the ball drops into the big gap where mid-on would have been.

Charlie Dean has really done a great job for her team and captain Georgia Adams.

Just two runs conceded and the priceless wicket of Sparks skipper Eve Jones.

Robbie James
BBC Radio Solent commentator

Dean bowled that from a little wider on the crease and Jones ended up yorking herself.

She maybe did her with a little bit of dip.

Lovely stroke from Eve Jones to get the final up and running with a boundary down the ground beyond a despairing dive.

She clips the final ball of the over nicely out to deep backward square for a couple as she gathers six from Lauren Bell's opener.

Sparks captain Eve Jones and Issy Wong are out in the middle.

Lauren Bell to open the bowling for the Vipers.

Here we go, let's hope we have a great final!

So Central Sparks will be back out in the middle little more than an hour after completing their two-wicket win over South East Stars.

Southern Vipers will have seen how much trouble the Sparks got themselves into from a position of 59-1, so they will hope to get Eve and Amy Jones out early to take on a potentially fragile middle order.

Kirstie Gordon
Lightning and England spin bowler

Sparks are going to bat first. I think it will suit them better - they are quite an aggressive team - to put a score on the board and hopefully put Vipers under a bit of pressure.

There will be several England players - present and recent past - involved in the Charlotte Edwards Cup final.

Central Sparks will again look to Amy Jones, the competition's highest scorer with 262, and spinner Sarah Glenn, who took 1-23 in their play-off win over South East Stars and has eight wickets in total.

Image source, Rex Features

Vipers, though, have Danni Wyatt at the top of the order, a player with two T20 international centuries to her credit.

And their side also includes all-rounders Georgia Elwiss and Maia Bouchier, spin bowler Charlie Dean and last, but very much not least, seam bowler Anya Shrubsole, a veteran of more than 170 international appearances in all formats.

A quick reminder that as well as our text commentary, you can listen to ball-by-ball coverage from our BBC local radio team, including Clive Eakin, Robbie James, Claire Jenkins, Kirstie Gordon and Charlotte Taylor. Click the audio promo at the top of the page to tune in.

If you weren't able to follow our coverage of the play-off game earlier on, here's a report on how Central Sparks reached the final against Southern Vipers.

Image source, Rex Features

Much of the attention will be focused on the batters in the second Charlotte Edwards Cup final.

But Issy Wong will have a dual role for Central Sparks, opening the bowling, as well as looking to give them a flying start with the bat.

Her 2-8 and 11 off six balls in the play-off win over South East Stars gave a glimpse of her potential, but Southern Vipers can look to the more seasoned skills of spin bowler Charlie Dean.

She has 10 wickets in this season's competition, at a cost of eight runs each, already three more than she managed in 2021.

Southern Vipers and Central Sparks were in the same group in last year's inaugural Charlotte Edwards Cup, with both sides winning one of the two matches in which they faced each other.

The first meeting took place at Edgbaston and it proved a formality for the Vipers, who bowled the home side out for 83 - with Charlie Dean taking 5-19 - and then scored 85-2 in 13.1 overs to win by eight wickets.

Two months later, they faced each other again at Hove and after Georgia Adams' unbeaten 88 saw the Vipers to 162-4, Marie Kelly made a magnificent 100 not out off 53 balls as Sparks reached 163-4 to win by six wickets with an over to spare.

There's no Marie Kelly for the Vipers to worry about today - she joined Lightning for the 2022 competition.

Image source, Rex Features

Central Sparks have won the toss and chosen to bat first - there will be no run-chase as there was in their play-off win over South East Stars earlier this afternoon.

They have named an unchanged team, while Southern Vipers recall former England seam bowler Anya Shurbsole, who sat out their final group game.

Vipers: Wyatt, Adams (capt), Bouchier, Elwiss, McCaughan, Dean, Scholfield, Kemp, Shrubsole, Rudd, Bell.

Sparks: E Jones (capt), Wong, A Jones, Freeborn, Campbell, Davies, Perrin Glenn, Arlott, Potts, Baker.

Image source, Getty Images

Southern Vipers will have a big edge in experience of domestic finals when they take on Central Sparks.

They played three finals in the now defunct Kia Super League, winning the first in 2016, and have been victorious in both years so far of the 50-over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.

Now, they want to prove they are the best team in the women's T20 game and win the cup that is named after their coach, Charlotte Edwards.

The Vipers have a 100% record in this year's competition, winning all six group games. What can Central Sparks - playing in their first franchise final - do to stop them making it seven out of seven?

OK, we are back in position - and there are just 25 minutes to go before the start of the Charlotte Edwards Cup final at Northampton, featuring her own Southern Vipers side against central Sparks.