In the pressure of a mid-final collapse, Alice Capsey stepped forward and made it look ever so easy

NICK FRIEND AT THE AGEAS BOWL: The greatest compliment you could pay her was that, if you knew no better or were previously unfamiliar with her wunderkind status, it might have looked plenty like she was taking the mick

For a while, it seemed as though the same game was being played twice at the Ageas Bowl.

In their eliminator against Southern Vipers, Northern Diamonds won the toss, batted first, reckoned 140 was a good score, relied on an experienced Yorkshire-born batter to do the bulk of the legwork and then were boosted by 22 from Jenny Gunn. Then, their varied bowling attack got the job done.

In the final against South East Stars, Northern Diamonds won the toss, batted first, reckoned 140 was a good score, relied on an experienced Yorkshire-born batter to do the bulk of the legwork and then were boosted by 22 from Jenny Gunn. Then, their varied bowling attack got taken down by two aggressive openers and a thrillingly talented teenager.

First time around, 135 for 6 proved ample. Georgia Adams was dismissed and the house of cards fell: Vipers’ overreliance on their captain was stark, and Diamonds took advantage superbly.

Second time around, not so much. The plans were the same: two left-armers opened up – the spin of Linsey Smith and seamer Rachel Slater, the youngest player in Diamonds’ squad; then Gunn’s guile and leg-spinner Katie Levick.

South East Stars, though, are a different beast: Bryony Smith and Aylish Cranstone reached fifty in 35 balls, Cranstone sweeping everything and everyone, Smith appointed bludgeoner-in-chief.

On the sidelines, the Alices – Capsey and Davidson-Richards – watched on. If you came to Southampton on a scouting mission of Capsey, English cricket’s designated Next Big Thing, you had to wait for a good portion of the afternoon, though you would leave mightily satisfied that the national side has spotted its player-in-waiting; she only came to the crease when Cranstone simultaneously pulled through midwicket and kicked her stumps over, but only left once the job was done.

^{South East Stars won the Charlotte Edwards Cup}

The decision to push Cranstone to the top of Stars’ batting line-up was a marker of their depth: one of the region’s five players on full-time domestic contracts, she has endured a quiet season in which her highest score has been just 42. She threatened to better it here, and the impact of her left-handedness posed a challenge that the Diamonds’ thinktank never seemed to master.

Finals are funny old things, though: once Cranstone pickled herself, Bryony Smith was bowled by namesake Linsey and both Grace Gibbs and Phoebe Franklin picked out boundary-riders, perhaps safe in the knowledge that batters would keep on coming: Davidson-Richards belatedly appeared at No.6, having begun the tournament at the top of the order, with Emma Jones – fresh from 46 against Central Sparks – beneath her still.

It is no coincidence, then, that Stars have dominated this competition, losing only once and qualifying directly for the final without the need for an early-afternoon precursor. Diamonds didn’t do a great deal wrong, though their fielding was far sloppier than earlier in the day; the strategy that worked almost flawlessly against Vipers was taken apart by a skilful, confident battery of hitters who looked every inch a professional unit in philosophy as much as execution, epitomised by their 17-year-old starlet.

There can hardly be much space left aboard the Capsey Bandwagon: she ramped her first ball for four over head of wicketkeeper Bess Heath and then watched from the non-striker’s end as her teammates threatened to chuck away a position of extreme strength.

Her riposte to that self-destructive carnage was not so much to quieten proceedings with a spell of rebuilding, but rather to do as her colleagues had done – just much better. Instead of slapping catches to long-on, she simply whacked the same balls harder, further and away from the fielders.

Her crowning glory was a straight six delivered with a pose that was held deliciously as a sign that the pressure of the situation could not have been any less relevant in her own mind.

And so, the greatest compliment you could pay her was that, if you knew no better or were previously unfamiliar with her wunderkind status, it would have looked plenty like she was taking the mick. Anyone who watched her in action for Oval Invincibles – or, indeed, Surrey – would tell you otherwise. This is Capsey’s world and we’re living in it. This is just the way she plays, dripping in fearlessness. In an era of increased professionalisation, she might just be the first real winner: how she progresses from here will be fascinating.

Davidson-Richards deserves a slice of acknowledgement too; she played a sensible, experienced second-fiddle to her teenage colleague, who was making all this final lark look incredibly straightforward.

Their stand reached 50 in 40 balls – of which Capsey contributed 32 – and it was entirely fitting that it was off her bat that the game ended, clipping into the legside for the two runs required with 12 balls remaining. There was no evidence of any excessive celebration; just a 17-year-old going about her work with an almost outrageous ease, before walking off like her hour was up in the nets.

Capsey mentioned The Hundred when collecting her player-of-the-match award, and she is one of two players to have won both in the last month. All being well, there will be plenty where they came from.