Manchester Originals Women v Southern Brave Women, Emirates Old Trafford on 5th August
Against all odds, South Africans Lizelle Lee (43* from 32 balls) and Mignon du Preez (15*runs from 15 balls) made a lightning match-winning display when rain stopped play with 30 balls remaining. Lizelle Lee was awarded ‘Match Hero’ cap and medal. Umpires had no appetite to continue. Using the ‘Duckworth-Lewis-Stern’ method, the match was awarded to ‘Originals’ who won by 17 runs (97 vs 80.)
Commentator Ebony Rainford Brent said that ‘Originals’ were unlikely to qualify for the finals, but had ‘regained their pride’ in front of their home crowd. Suffering their first defeat, ‘Brave’ remain in first place, but ‘Originals’ move-up from the bottom
‘Originals’ started the day with three-fold disadvantages. Firstly, high flying ‘Brave’ were the only team to sustain a continuous winning streak with maximum points. Secondly, by comparison, ‘Originals’ were on a losing streak with ‘nothing short of a miracle’ needed to qualify for a place in the final. Their solitary point was gifted by Manchester’s legendary rain. Thirdly, their opponents are the most decorated team. Four ‘Brave’ players have been awarded for ‘Hero-of-the-match’: including Danni Wyatt, Amanda-Jade Wellington, Stafanie Taylor and Smriti Mandhana – who were all listed to play. Fourthly, ‘Originals’ were playing without their star batter, India’s Harmanpreet Kaur
‘The Hundred’s’ 19th match was broadcast live (commentators included Ebony Rainford Brent, Nasser Hussain, Darren Gough, Simon Doull and guest Tammy Beaumont from SKY Sports TV) plus cricket social media (Matt Roller and Venkat Raghav from ESPN-cric-info social media.)
After a promising start, ‘Brave’ made a disappointing finish as ‘Originals’ spinners took wickets. ‘Brave’ still posted a competitive score
* ‘Originals’ were said to have ‘gone down the spin route,’ with the possiblility of a shortened match, anticipating inclement weather
* ‘Brave’ lost Smriti Mandhana (19 runs from 12 balls) failing to middle a ‘full-toss’ that struck her bat’s toe-end
* ‘Brave’ ended the ‘power-play’ (36/1) without further loss, Nasser Hussain adding that they ‘played well,’ not ‘over-hitting’ the ball
* After the ‘power-play’ Emma Lamb left the field after a boundary dive, substituted by Danielle Collins. She returned later to bat
* ‘Brave’ suffered ‘a bit of a collapse’ ‘Originals’ spinners taking four wickets for five runs – at which point the team was ‘on a hat-trick’
* Commentators congratulated Alex Hartley for taking her first 3 wickets; Hannah Jones also took 3 wickets in her first match
* ‘Originals’ came out ‘guns ablazing’ with teams neck-and-neck at the half-way point (both teams having scored 65 runs from 50 balls)
* ‘Brave’ missed two chances to ‘run out’ Lizelle Lee (43* from 32); Sophia Dunkley dropped Mignon duPreez just before half-way at 59/1
* With victory in sight, the South African pair reached 97-1 with 30 balls remaining (needing less than 1rpb); at which point rain stopped play
Result: ‘Manchester Originals -W’ 97/1 (DLS Method, 70 balls) beat ‘Southern Brave -W’ 123-7 by 17 runs
‘Southern Brave – Women’ (SB-W) 123-7 (20.0v 1.23 rpb) Stafanie Taylor 28*runs (from 27 balls) Sophia Dunkley 28 (25), Danni Wyatt 24(20), Smriti Mandhana 19(12); ‘Manchester Originals- Women’ (MO-W) bowling: Hannah Jones 3/17, Alex Hartley 3/29, Kate Cross 1/19; Fow 1-34, 2-56, 3-92, 4-114, 5-114, 6-118, 7-118
‘Manchester Originals- Women’ (MO-W) 97-1 (70 balls 1.38 rpb) Mignon du Preez 15*(15), Lizelle Lee 43*(32), Emma Lamb 32 (23); Fow 1-52
Scorecard at: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/the-hundred-women-s-competition-2021-1252659/manchester-originals-women-vs-southern-brave-women-19th-match-1252718/live-cricket-score
