‘London Spirit’ v ‘Trent Rockets’ at Lords on 29 July
Receiving ‘Hero-of-the-match’ cap and medal from Charles Dagnall, Rachel Priest repeated what she’d said before the match: that she’d had a ‘clear head’ and (knew she) ‘needed to get runs-on-the-scoreboard.’ Priest (76 from 42 balls) added that she was ‘glad she had a good bat,’ making her ‘fifty’ at half-way and accounting for half of ‘Rockets’ record score (151.) Dagnall added that ‘anything can happen,’ as previously, ‘Spirit’ had topped the table and when ‘Rockets’ arrived at Lords they were bottom.
‘The Hundred’s’ 10th match was broadcast live (commentators included Charles Dagnall, Dane Van Niekerk – as ‘Invincibles’ skipper – and ex-India’s Dinesh Karthik) from SKY Sports TV; plus cricket social media (Alan Gardner for epsn-cric-info.)
* Scores were level-pegging between the ‘power-play’ (‘Rockets’ 26/0 v ‘Spirit’ 28/2) and the mid-way point (‘Rockets’ 71/0 v ‘Spirit’ 70/2) ‘Spirit’ hit one more ‘four’ but ‘Rockets’ hit 7 ‘sixes’ compared to ‘Spirit’s’ 2 ‘sixes.’ Top scorer Rachel Priest hit 10 ‘fours’ and 4 ‘sixes’
* Rachel Priest was dropped on the boundary by Tammy Beaumont, off Danielle Gibson. Priest was later caught out playing an identical shot to the same Gibson-Beaumont combination, by which time both Priest’s and ‘Rockets’ scores had doubled
* Opening for ‘Spirit,’ Deandre Dottin (29 runs from 19 balls) played a short cameo innings, hitting ‘Rockets’ skipper Natalie Sciver’s first three post-powerplay balls for 14 runs
* Skipper Heather Knight (31 from 25) was ‘Spirit’s’ top scorer. With Knight gone, ‘Spirit’s’ tail-enders Charlie Dean (16 from 9) and Danielle Gibson (18* from 12) did well to narrow the run deficit
* As Gardner points out, ‘Rockets’ are the first women’s team to pass the 150 mark, both sides bowling around 40 dot balls (40%) Unanswered question is why Deandre Dottin (West Indies All-Rounder) wasn’t afforded the chance to bowl at all?
Result: ‘Trent Rockets Women’ 151/4 beat ‘London Spirit Women’ 133/7 by 18 runs
‘Trent Rockets W’ (TR-W) 151/4 (20 ov, 1.51 runs per ball) Rachel Priest 76 runs (from 42 balls), Natalie Sciver 32 (16), Sammy-Jo Johnson 25 (34); ‘Spirit’ bowling: Freya Davies 1/19, Deepti Sharma 1/24, Danielle Gibson 1/39; Fow 1-101, 2-132, 3-145, 4-151
‘London Spirit W’ (LS-W) 133/7 (20 ov, 1.33 rpb) Heather Knight 31 runs (from 25 balls) Deandre Dottin 29 (19), Danielle Gibson 18*(12); Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Dean 16(9); ‘Rockets’ bowling: Lucy Higham 2/12, Kathryn Bryce 1/5, Heather Graham 1/13, Katherine Brunt 1/26, Sammy-Jo Johnson 1/28; Fow 1-23, 2-25, 3-70, 4-77, 5-88, 6-100, 7-112;
Scorecard at: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/the-hundred-women-s-competition-2021-1252659/london-spirit-women-vs-trent-rockets-women-10th-match-1252709/full-scorecard
* For postscript, another unanswered question is whether Priest received an ‘Australian player’s bonus’ for this series, having emigrated there when she announced her retirement from the NZ team
