Southern Brave vs Northern Superchargers at Ageas Bowl on 6 August at 11h00
Twice competition finalists ‘Brave’ chalked-up their first win, just as TV cricketing pundits predicted. Skipper Anya Shrubsole dismissed both of ‘Superchargers’ top international batters (Phoebe Litchfield & Jemimah Rodrigues) and was pleased that ‘Brave’ had ‘bounced back’ from their previous ‘scrappy’ defeat by ‘Fire.’ No one expected ‘Brave’s’ keeper to exert such influence on the match, taking a record four dismissals; bagging Rhianna Southby POTM Meerkat Match Hero. Introduced by SKY Sports cricketing pundits Ebony Rainford-Brent, Charles Dagnall & Mark Butcher (former England players); with Dinesh Karthik (India) & guest Ollie Pope (England.) Match highlights courtesy of Sky Sports (please see below.) Weather at Southampton was sunny with patches of blue sky, but cool for August.
NSC-W Innings *Skipper Hollie Armitage with an unchanged side. *[Rhianna Southby keeping wicket for Brave] *Internationals Jemimah Rodrigues (India), Phoebe Litchfield & Georgia Wareham (Australia Women’s Big Bash League.) Jemimah Rodrigues 6(7) was bowled through the gate by Anya Shrubsole’s in-swinger flattening ‘off-stump.’ *7 balls later, Phoebe Litchfield snicked an ‘out-swinger’ to keeper Rhianna Southby; for a 3rd-balll duck from Anya Shrubsole (2/13.) *After 25 balls ‘Power-play,’ Superchargers were 17/2 & 52/2 by mid-way. *Hollie Armitage 21(19) was stumped ‘excellently,’ coming down-the-wicket off-side to Georgia Adams. *Alice Davidson-Richards 5(6) snicked a catch behind to Rhianna Southby, upon review, from Georgia Adams. *Looking to accelerate to ‘fifty’ Marie Kelly 39(40) came-down-the-track to Georgia Adams and was stumped after missing the ball. *After hitting Chloe Tryon for ‘four,’ Bess Heath 11(8) lobbed a ‘dolly’ to Smriti Mandhana and was caught at ‘mid-off. 4 balls later, Leah Dobson 1(3) went aerial, returning a dolly to Georgia Adams (3/21) with keeper Southby backing-up. *Finally, Kate Cross 3(6) was skittled by Lauren Bell’s slower ball. *Rhianna Southby became the first keeper in the women’s competition to claim four dismissals (2 catches and 2 stumpings.) Georgia Wareham 6*(6) and Linsey Smith 2*2 were both ‘not out.’ Top Superchargers batter was Marie Kelly 39(40.) *Best ‘Brave’ bowler was Georgia Adams 3/21.
SB-W Innings *Skipper Anya Shrubsole announced an unchanged side. [Bess Heath keeping wicket for Superchargers] *Internationals Smriti Mandhana (India), Maitlan Brown (Australia WBBL) & Chloe Tryon (Rep. South Africa.) *Between innings, TV pundits speculated about whether Smriti Mandhana, who’d scored 5 ‘fifties’ from 17 matches, could chalk-up her 3rd back-to-back ‘fifty.’ *Danni Wyatt was 3rd placed with 4 ‘fifties’ from 19 matches; with Jemimah Rodrigues in between. *Danni Wyatt 20(18) was caught between ‘point’ and ‘backward-point’ by Linsey Smith, from Kate Cross. *After 25 balls ‘Power-play,’ Brave were 31/1 (vs 17/2.) *Brave’s 2nd-wicket-stand bagged 45 runs. *Superchargers were said to need wickets ‘rather quickly’ when ‘Strategic-time-out’ was taken. *Brave were ahead needing 37 to win at the mid-way point 64/1 (vs 52/2) *Smriti Mandhana 20(18) toe-ended the ball across-the-line, caught by Georgia Wareham arriving from the ‘mid-wicket’ boundary, from Linsey Smith. *Georgia Adams 3(4) was cursed by commentators ‘with not-a-lot-to-do,’ went straight-into-the-hands of Linsey Smith deep of ‘mid-wicket.’ *Maia Bouchier 31(28) was the only batter to score ’six,’ lobbed a return-dolly from a ‘full-toss,’ caught-and-bowled by Linsey Smith. *Commentator’s curse struck again when Freya Kemp 2(4) who has ‘outstanding potential’ was ‘Yorked’ top-of-middle-stump, by Georgia Wareham (2/15.) *Chloe Tryon 13*not out (8), hit the winning ‘four’ partnered by Maitlan Brown 2*not out (5) to see Brave across-the-line. *Brave’s best batter was Maia Bouchier 31(28.) *’Superchargers’ best bowler was Linsey Smith 2/11.
Match summary: Low-scoring match in which only three ‘Superchargers’ batters made double-figures and both top international batters (Phoebe Litchfield & Jemimah Rodrigues) went for single figures, to skipper/coach Anya Shrubsole. Commentators lauded Rhianna Southby (Brave) who became the first keeper in the women’s competition to claim four dismissals. Receiving her POTM Meerkat Match Hero ‘cap-and-medal’ from Dinesh Karthik, Rhianna Southby enjoyed catching AD-R (on review) from the ‘under-edge’ of her bat as it could ‘show what she could do.’ Given ‘not-a-lot-to-do; ‘Brave’ won after recovering from a ten-ball ‘wobble’ when 3 wickets fell for just 3 runs. As mentioned above, Skipper/coach Anya Shrubsole was pleased that ‘Brave’ had ‘bounced back’ from their previous ‘scrappy’ defeat.
Match result: Southern Brave Women 102/5 beat Northern Superchargers Women 100/8 by five wickets and with 13 balls remaining
*Superchargers batting: 100/8: (100 balls @1 run-per-ball); Marie Kelly 39(40), Hollie Armitage 21(19), Bess Heath 11(8); *Brave bowling: Georgia Adams 3/21, Anya Shubsole 2/13, Chloe Tryon 2/25, Lauren Bell 1/14; Fow 1-9, 2-12, 3-55, 4-72, 5-83, 6-88, 7-90, 8-95.
*Brave batting 102/5: (87/100 balls @1.2 runs-per-ball, target 101 from 100 balls); Maia Bouchier 31(28), Danni Wyatt 20(18) Smriti Mandhana 19(21), Chloe Tryon 13*not out (8); *Superchargers bowling: Linsey Smith 2/11, Georgia Wareham 2/15, Kate Cross 1/15; Fow 1-31, 2-76, 3-85, 4-87, 5-88.
*Scorecard courtesy of BBC Sport at URL: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/scorecard/ECKE1000724
*Match highlights (6m01s) courtesy of Sky Sports @URL: https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/cricket/12934838/highlights-rhianna-southby-inspires-southern-brave-to-victory-over-northern-superchargers
