Manchester Originals vs Trent Rockets at Manchester (Emirates Old Trafford) on 13 August (11h00)
Playing for Rockets, Australian Gold medallist and POTM ‘match hero’ Alana King said she was ‘pumped-up’ after taking the first hat-trick of this year’s tournament (please see highlights below, courtesy of SKY Sports.) Stand-in skipper Elyse Villani (who missed out on Australian Commonwealth Games selection) congratulated King who’d bagged three ducks. Alana King finished with a 4-fer (4/15.) Setting the scene beforehand, commentator Dominic Cork wished both captains better luck than for their first matches in last year’s Women’s ‘The Hundred.’ The match was broadcast via SKY Sports (Mark Butcher, Lydia Greenway, Dominic Cork and Nasser Hussain); BBC i-player; Radio 5LSX (Scott Read, Deep Dasgupta, with guests including Thea Brookes). Also ESPN-cric-info (S Sudarshanan, Hemant Brar) and other social media. Weather at Old Trafford was a hot summer’s day, without rain 24-28C.
Rockets’ Innings *Rockets were skippered by Australian Elyse Villani, standing-in for Nat Sciver, (also minus Meg Lanning.) Skipper Villani (4) was out to Hannah Jones’ first ball, ‘leg before’ attempting ‘reverse-sweep.’ *Opener Marie Kelly was ‘cramped on the leg-side’ by Deandre Dottin and caught behind fourth ball, by Originals’ keeper Ellie Threlkeld. *By the power play, Rockets scored 30 runs from 25 balls. *South Africa’s Mignon duPreez (9) was short-lived, out to a skied short delivery from Kate Cross, caught by Hannah Jones at ‘third man:’ said to be a ‘massive blow.’ *England’s Sophie Ecclestone stemmed the scoring rate, clean-bowling England hopeful Bryony Smith 16 (from 14.) *Rockets reached 57/4 by mid-way. *Abi Freeborn and Katherine Brunt’s fifth-wicket partnership added 45 runs; until Brunt was caught by Emma Lamb at ‘extra cover:’ said by commentators to be a ‘soft dismissal’ lacking ’elevation’ needed to clear the fielder. *Alana King hit the first two ’sixes’ of the innings. *Drama struck with eight balls to go, when keeper Ellie Threlkeld was struck under her helmet grille. Play was halted by Umpires for a routine concussion check. Rockets closed ‘around the 120 mark’ as pundits had predicted: on 119/5.
Originals’ Innings *Commentators beefed-up the ‘all-Katherine’ bowling attack. *Scotland’s Kathryn Bryce’s fifth ball castled England’s Emma Lamb for second-ball duck. *Lamb was ‘looking to turn to square or fine’ and lost her leg-stump. *Five balls later, WIndies’ star Deandre Dottin spooned a leading-edge catch to Marie Kelly from Alana King’s leg-spin for another second-ball duck. *Having got her team off to a ‘perfect start’, opener South African Lizelle Lee was caught by Sarah Glenn ‘running backwards’ and diving to take a spectacular one-handed ‘catch-of-the-tournament’ from Kathryn Bryce’s bowling. *By the power play, Originals scored 21 runs (vs 30) from 25 balls, needing 99 to win. *Sarah Glenn stayed in the limelight as NZ Amy Satterthwaite (9) came down the wicket to her first ball and was promptly stumped by Abi Freeborn. *Originals reached 40/4 by mid-way (vs 57/4). *Disaster struck the hosts when Alana King scored a ‘hat-trick.’ *Firstly, Cordelia Griffith (12) was tempted by a fielding gap between ‘cover’ and ‘point,’ and bowled by King’s ‘slower ball.’ *Secondly, Sophie Ecclestone (who took to the field with vociferous home crowd approval) went plumb ‘leg before’ without scoring. *Thirdly, skipper Kate Cross was bamboozled by Alana King’s leg-spin for another golden duck. *On 67/8 after 75 balls, Originals needed an unlikely 53 with 25 balls, with only two wickets remaining.
Summary Rockets having posted a defendable score ‘around the 120 mark,’ went on to skittle their opponents for 76 all out, inflicting Originals with a ‘heavy defeat.’ Rockets’ Abi Freeborn top-scored with an unbeaten 45*. Alana King had a perfect day scoring 19* that included two ‘sixes’ with her bat. King also, took four Originals’ wickets with her leg-spin – including a memorable hat-trick; plus a diving catch to dismiss Originals’ Ami Campbell. World-class batters Deandre Dottin and Emma Lamb both failed to score. Exceptionally, seven Originals’ wickets fell to spin-bowling. Eight batters failed to reach double-figures with four ‘ducks.’
Result: Trent Rockets Women 119/5 beat Manchester Originals Women 76/10 by 43 runs with 13 balls remaining
Rockets’ batting: 119/5 (100 balls, 1.19 runs per-ball); Abi Freeborn 45*(38), Alana King 19*(9), Bryony Smith 16(14), Kathryn Brunt 13(17); Originals’ bowling: Deandre Dottin 2/21, Kate Cross 1/19, Hannah Jones 1/20, Sophie Ecclestone 23/1; Fow 1-5, 2-21, 3-38, 4-43, 5-88.
Originals’ batting: 76/10 (87 balls, 0.87 runs-per-ball; target 120 from 100 balls); Lizelle Lee 17(13), Ami Campbell 13(18), Cordelia Griffith 12(15); Rockets’ bowling: Alana King 4/15, Kathryn Bryce 2/2, Sarah Glenn 2/14, Bryony Smith 1/16; Fow 1-15, 2-17, 3-21, 4-37, 5-45, 6-45, 7-45, 8-67, 9-72, 10-76.
Scorecard & Statistics at URL: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/the-hundred-women-s-competition-2022-1299144/manchester-originals-women-vs-trent-rockets-women-3rd-match-1299147/full-scorecard
Match video [3h33m46] starts at 31m11 at URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJuK8ITl-iY with highlights of Alana King’s hat trick at URL:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F8eo4ZnkQc
