Let us take a look at the highlights of Matches 12 and 13 of the inaugural edition of Women’s Hundred that took place on 31 July.
Welsh Fire v Manchester Originals, Cardiff
Manchester Originals 120/6 in 100 balls (Ecclestone 31*; Hennessy 2-24) lost to Welsh Fire 124/1 in 88 balls (Matthews 71*; Jackson 1-27) by 9 wickets with 12 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Hayley Matthews.
Welsh Fire registered their first win in the campaign by beating Manchester Originals by 9 wickets in Match 12 of the Women’s Hundred at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff. The Originals reached 120/6 after being put in to bat. Sophie Ecclestone top-scored with a quickfire 15-ball 31 not out, which came late in this innings.
Coming to chase, Fire lost Bryony Smith (3) early, but Hayley Matthews hit four fours in the first 10 balls and never looked back from there. She and Georgia Redmayne (38*) forged an unbeaten 101-run stand for the second wicket to wrap up the victory with 9 wickets and 12 balls to spare. Matthews remained not out on 71 off 50 balls, laced with 10 fours and one six.
Northern Superchargers v Oval Invincibles, Headingley
Northern Superchargers 109/8 in 100 balls (Davidson-Richards 42; Capsey 2-9) beat Oval Invincibles 105/4 in 100 balls (Bryce 29; Davidson-Richards 2-17) by 4 runs. Player of the Match: Alice Davidson-Richards.
An all-round show from Alice Davidson-Richards helped Northern Superchargers beat Oval Invincibles by four runs, in Match 13 in front of 6,737 fans at Headingley.
She first struck a 30-ball 42 to take Superchargers to 109/8 after they were asked to bat. Alice Capsey, Tash Farrant, Mady Villiers, Grace Gibbs all claimed two wickets each. Capsey, 16, was the standout performer among them, with 2-9 in 20 balls.
Superchargers bowlers impressed while defending the target. Both Elizabeth Russell (20-14-0) and Davidson-Richards (20-17-1) conceded less than a run a ball, thus restricting the Invincibles to 105/4 to hand them their first defeat in three games. Dane van Niekerk’s (27* off 21) effort came too late.