Northern Superchargers vs Trent Rockets at Headingley, Leeds; on 26 July 2024
Rockets Alana King (Australia) received POTM ‘Meerkat match hero’ cap-and-medal for taking two key wickets (Georgia Wareham & Bess Heath); and also took one catch. Bess Heath’s dismissal drew parallels with the late Shane Warne’s ‘ball-of-the-century’ (1993) – please see short video below. Alana King’s tally stands at 14 wickets from 16 matches (at time of writing.) During the match, Rockets were said to stay ‘well on top’ but as Superchargers lost more wickets they faced ‘real problems.’ Speaking to commentators post-match, top-scorer Nat Sciver-Brunt (pictured) [36*not out (from 34 balls)] was congratulated as winning skipper for Rockets’ ‘commendable performance.’ Separately, never before had SKY’s match outcome predictor given any team 100% total certainty to win, as happened when ‘strategic-time-out’ was taken. Introduced for SKY Sports Cricket by Nick ‘Knighty’ Knight (broadcaster & former England international), Lydia Greenway OBE (broadcaster & former England international), Simon Doull (NZ broadcaster & former NZ international), Alex Tudor (former England international) & Dinesh Karthik (former India international); later joined by Dominic Cork (Head Coach at Derbyshire Falcons & former England international.) Patches of blue sky until Superchargers’ final 45 balls when floodlights were switched-on.
*Rockets’ innings: skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt, with international players: Ashleigh ‘Ash’ Gardner, Heather Graham & Alana King (all Australia); *[Bess Heath keeping wicket for Superchargers]; *After 25 balls ‘power-play 42/0; *’Playing really straight,’ Grace Scrivens was caught ‘in-the-deep’ by Linsey Smith, from Annabel Sutherland; At mid-way (50 balls) 71/1; *’Much needed breakthrough’ when Bryony Smith was caught at ‘deep-square’ by Marie Kelly from Annabel Sutherland; *Ash Gardner chipped-up a return-catch, caught comfortably by Linsey Smith; *Next ball, Heather Graham was caught by Lucy Higham from Linsey Smith for a golden duck; *Choosing ‘not to’ review with nine balls remaining, Katie George went ‘leg-before’ to Annabel Sutherland; *Rockets batting: Nat Sciver-Brunt 36*not out (34), Grace Scrivens 32(22), Bryony Smith 23(21), Ash Gardner 10(9); *Superchargers’ bowling: Annabel Sutherland 3/14, Linsey Smith 2/23;
*Superchargers’ innings: skipper Hollie Armitage, with international players: Phoebe Litchfield, Annabel Sutherland & Georgia Wareham (all Australia); *[Natasha ‘Nat’ Wraith keeping wicket for Rockets];*Commentators curse struck when Marie Kelly ‘who liked to sweep,’ went ‘leg-before’ to Kirstie Gordon; *Attempting a second ‘reverse sweep,’ Phoebe Litchfield went ‘leg-before’ to Ash Gardner, upon review for a third-ball duck; *Hollie Armitage was caught comfortably at ‘mid-on’ by Grace Scrivens from Nat Sciver-Brunt’s pace-off ball; *After 25 balls ‘power-play 32/5 (vs 42/0); *Next ball, (and as noted above), Bess Heath was bowled ‘off-stump’ by Alana King for a second-ball duck, with comparisons made to Warne’s so-called ‘ball-of-the-century’ (1993); *Four balls later, Georgia Wareham was caught by keeper Natasha Wraith (misreported elsewhere as ‘Smith’) from Alana King -’a big wicket;’ *Alice Davidson-Richards was’ run-out’ by Katie George’s throw to Nat Wraith (misreported elsewhere as ‘Smith’) at the striker’s end, when going for a second run to retain strike, from Heather Graham; *Two balls later, Annabel Sutherland was caught ‘at deep square’ by Alana King from Heather Graham;*At mid-way (50 balls) 57/7 (vs 71/1); *Kate Cross was caught low down at ‘long-on’ by Nat Sciver-Brunt, from Heather Graham; *When ‘strategic-time-out’ was taken on 84/8, with ‘work to do,’ Superchargers needed 40 runs from 22 balls with 2 wickets remaining. *Coming round the wicket, Linsey Smith was bowled by Heather Graham; *Finally, Lucy Higham was bowled by Nat Sciver-Brunt’s ’nip-backer.’ *Superchargers’ batting: Lucy Higham 26(22), Marie Kelly 15(12), Hollie Armitage 14(9), Linsey Smith 13(14); *Rockets’ bowling Heather Graham 3/13, Alana King 2/17, Nat Sciver-Brunt 2/19, Ash Gardner 1/18, Kirstie Gordon 1/22;
*Match result: Trent Rockets 123/5 (@1.2 runs-per-ball from 100/100 balls) beat Northern Superchargers 103/10 (@1.0 r-p-b from 97/100 balls) by 20 runs (with 3 balls remaining)
*SKY Sports scorecard @url https://www.skysports.com/cricket/northern-superchargers-women-v-trent-rockets-women/scorecard/dcff4ea6-95e4-54d1-a977-8cfe90141e89
*Match highlights courtesy of SKY Sports Cricket free-to-air via YouTube [11m50s] @url https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWgNWxJMBWg
*’King’s stunning delivery earns Shane Warne comparisons’ courtesy of SKY Sports Cricket<00m41s> @url https://www.skysports.com/the-hundred/video/36891/13185485/that-is-the-ball-of-the-hundred-alana-kings-stunning-delivery
*Fixtures @url https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/3801564/the-hundred-2024-fixtures
