Charlotte Edwards Cup: Stars in final as Diamonds and Vipers progress to eliminator

South East Stars booked their place in the final of the Charlotte Edwards Cup with a 26-run win over Central Sparks.

Defending 165-6, Dani Gregory (3-16) stalled the Sparks' momentum in the middle overs and Bryony Smith got the crucial wicket of Evelyn Jones (76 off 68 balls) in the 19th over.

Southern Vipers and Northern Diamonds will meet in a semi-final eliminator after also winning their final games.

The Diamonds topped Group B ahead of Western Storm on net run-rate.

The eliminator will be played at the Ageas Bowl on Sunday, before the winners face South East Stars for the trophy later the same day.

The South East Stars went top of Group A after beating Southern Vipers on Saturday, and knew victory over Central Sparks would be enough to secure a place in the final.

The Stars lost openers Aylish Cranstone and Smith in the first three overs and were 90-4 in the 12th, but 41 off 33 from Chloe Brewer and Emma Jones' 46 not out from 27 balls saw them set Central Sparks 166 to win.

The target proved too much for the hosts at Edgbaston Community Sports Ground, as the Sparks slipped behind the required rate in the second half of their innings to finish on 139-6.

That result guaranteed the Vipers second spot in Group A, and Georgia Elwiss (3-23) was the pick of the bowlers as the Vipers restricted Lightning to 124-9 from their 20 overs at Derby.

But it proved to be a tight run chase, with the visitors needing nine runs to win from the final over. Paige Scholfield (41 not out) hit the winning run from the final ball to secure a seven-wicket win, and inflict a sixth straight defeat on Lightning.

"I've not felt pressure like that for a long time," Scholfield told BBC Radio Solent. "We played strong shots down the ground and it's what we needed to do in those closing overs.

"We're all very excited to be at the finals, it's going to be a big day out.

"We're coached by Charlotte [Edwards] and we desperately want to bring the trophy with her name on home at the first attempt, so we'll be going all out."

Three teams in Group B went into the final round of matches with a chance of reaching finals day, with Western Storm a point ahead of Northern Diamonds and two in front of Thunder.

Georgia Hennessy's run-a-ball 62 helped Storm to 147-5 from their 20 overs at Fenner's and Nicole Harvey (3-17) removed Sunrisers' top three as Storm closed out a five-run win.

However, Diamonds pipped Western Storm to top spot thanks to a huge eight-wicket win over Thunder in Chester.

Thunder could only post 90-9 from their 20 overs, with Jenny Gunn taking 4-15, and Beth Heath hit an unbeaten 58 as Diamonds reached their target with more than seven overs to spare.

A batting bonus point, achieved for a run rate more than 1.25 times greater than their opponents, put Diamonds level on 17 points with Storm, and Diamonds subsequently edged into the eliminator on net run-rate.

Sunday 5 September, Ageas Bowl:

Semi-final eliminator: Northern Diamonds v Southern Vipers (12:00 BST)

Final: South East Stars v TBC (16:00 BST)