Perry's Lightning in Super League finals

Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars allrounder Ellyse Perry will feature in the inaugural England Women's Super League finals, after the Loughborough Lightning advanced to the play-offs.

The Lightning finished second on the ladder and will have to play a sudden-death semi-final against the Western Storm on Saturday, with the winner to meet the Southern Vipers in the final.

Loughborough had a chance to finish on top of the table and progress directly to the final when they met the Vipers on Sunday, but Perry's 35 from 33 balls was not enough for the Lightning to chase the Vipers' 4-156.

The Lightning and Storm face off in a semi-final at Chelmsford on Sunday, August 21 at 11am local time, before the final is held at 3pm the same day.

Unfortunately for the competition's other three Australians, neither the Surrey Stars nor Yorkshire Diamonds have progressed to the play-offs.

Rene Farrell's Stars finished fourth on the table with two wins, while the Diamonds finished fifth with just one victory to their name.

The Diamonds ended their campaign with a six-wicket loss to the Storm on Sunday, with Beth Mooney's 56 not enough to snatch a second win.

After slow starts to the tournament with the bat, both Mooney and fellow Aussie batter Alex Blackwell found their groove in the latter stages, with Blackwell scoring 59 in Yorkshire's 95-run win over Lancashire Thunder on Friday.

Farrell claimed two wickets in five matches for Surrey.

The Southern Stars will return home to continue preparations for next month's tour of Sri Lanka, where they are set to play four one-day internationals and one T20 against the home nation.

The tour is a historic moment for the Australians, who have never toured the island nation before. Their only previous visit was for the 2012 World T20 tournament.