Oval Invincibles Women v Welsh Fire Women at Kia Oval on 2nd August
For a second time in three days, ‘Invincibles’ failed to get a move on chasing a low target, slipping to their second defeat (minus Marizanne Kapp and Shabnim Ismail – both missing for a second game in a row.)
Receiving ‘Hero-of-the-match’ cap and medal, from Mark Butcher, ‘Fire’s’ Sarah Taylor said that it was: ‘Nice to be back: ‘hitting boundaries… enjoying the tournament… (and was) definitely doing that!’
‘The Hundred’s’ 16th match was broadcast live (commentators included Lydia Greenway, Charles Dagnall and Mark Butcher from SKY Sports TV) plus cricket social media (Matt Roller from ESPN-cric-info social media.) SKY commentators couldn’t decide between the teams. Both teams beat ‘Manchester Originals’ (home); and both teams lost to ‘Northern Superchargers.’ After the match, Dagnall said that ‘Invincibles’ skipper Dane van Niekerk should be ‘knocking on the physiotherapist’s door, to recover her fellow South African ‘big names’’
*’Fire’ got off to a poor start, losing Bryony Smith to a stumping from Mady Villiers first ball. Overseas players Hayley Matthews (21 from 21) and Georgia Redmayne (30 from 29) added fifty runs – at which point Matthews ‘played-on’ to Dane van Niekerk. Four balls later, Sarah Taylor was dropped *‘Fire’ reached 57/2 by mid-way
*Sarah Taylor gained a second reprieve 26 balls later, when 16 yo Alice Capsey dropped a catch at ‘long-on’ from Mady Villiers’ bowling. Taylor added another 14 runs before coming down the wicket to Capsey and lobbing an easy catch to Mady Villiers
*’Fire’s’ innings ‘stuttered to a close’ as two further chances from Mady Villiers’ bowling were missed by ‘Invincibles’ – the second was disallowed as a stumping as the bails remained intact. Bowling the ‘death’ over, Tash Farrant (1/24) took two more wickets: a ‘run out’ and a final ball ‘catch’
*Opener Georgia Adams (0) was ‘run out’ for a duck. ’Invincibles’ made a similarly poor start, scoring 28/1 by the end of the power-play (‘Fire’ were 25/1)
*Alice Capsey (14 from 12) was the only player to score faster than one-run-per-ball. By the mid-way point, ‘Invincibles’ had slipped behind 45-3 (compared to ‘Fire’s 57-2)
*Although unable to bowl, Katie George made three remarkable catches at ‘deep mid-wicket.’
*Firstly, to dismiss ‘Invincibles’ skipper Dane van Niekerk (nominated by Matt Roller as ‘catch of the tournament’)
*Secondly, a juggling catch from Mady Villiers; and thirdly a less dramatic catch dismissing Tash Farrant
*Once skipper van Niekerk was out, ‘Invincibles needed 48 runs from 28 balls. Commentators agreed that ‘Invincibles’ needed boundaries, whereas ‘Fire’ needed ‘dot balls’
*’Fire’ realised they’d won by a slim margin, once ‘Fire’ keeper Sarah Taylor stumped Eva Gray (off Piepa Cleary) with two balls remaining
Result: Welsh Fire W 112/6 beat Oval Invincibles W 100/9 by 12 runs
Welsh Fire Women (WF-W) 112-6 (20 ov. 1.12rbp)
Georgia Redmayne 30*(29), Sarah Taylor 29(24), Hayley Matthews 21*(21); ‘Invincibles’ bowling (all 20b): Dane van Niekerk 1/10, Alice Capsey 1/17, Mady Villiers 1/21, Tash Farrant 1/24; Fow 1-5, 2-52, 3-74, 4-103, 5-109, 6-112
Oval Invincibles Women (OI-W) 100-9 (20 ov. 1rpb)
Grace Gibbs 21 runs (from 22 balls) Fran Wilson 20(23) Alice Capsey 14(12); ‘Fire’ bowling: Hayley Matthews 3/23, Nicole Harvey 2/11, Hannah Baker 1/9, Piepa Cleary 1/18, Bryony Smith 1/24; Fow 1-0, 2-34, 3-44, 4-65, 5-75, 6-78, 7-92, 8-93, 9-97
Scorecard at: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/the-hundred-women-s-competition-2021-1252659/oval-invincibles-women-vs-welsh-fire-women-16th-match-1252715/full-scorecard
Footnote: At the time of writing, both teams share fourth place. Hayley Matthews (‘Fire’) is second leading cumulative run-scorer behind Jemimah Rodrigues (166) and Tash Farrant (‘Invincibles’) is joint-second highest wicket-taker, behind Sammy-Jo Johnson (9 wickets)
