Birmingham Phoenix vs Southern Brave at Birmingham (Edgbaston) on 3 August 2024
Both teams came beefed-up with their internationals, newly arrived from India. Phoenix chalked-up their second back-to-back win (finally putting to bed the narrative about a ‘long string of defeats.’) Defending champions Brave remain winless with renewed pressure to win remaining matches to qualify for the next stage. Brave started well. 16yo slow-arm bowler Tilly Corteen-Coleman took two early wickets. With favourable conditions on an ‘excellent pitch’ POTM ‘Meerkat match hero’ Amy Jones (pictured) scored a match-winning ‘fifty’ [51 runs (from 36 balls)], partnered by bowler-turned-batter Emily ‘Em’ Arlott [22(12)], who hit two ’sixes.’ By comparison, Brave lost three ‘massive’ wickets during their power-play, to carbon-copy dismissals by keeper Amy Jones, each bowled by skipper Ellyse Perry. Amy Jones bagged another three keeper’s dismissals, as Brave tail-enders were left with too much to do. Introduced at Edgbaston before a crowd of 12,500 by Nick ‘Knighty’ Knight (broadcaster & former England international) with Melanie ‘Mel’ Jones (broadcaster & former Australian international) with Eoin Morgan CBE & Dominic Cork (former England internationals); Also with Lydia Greenway OBE (broadcaster & former England international), who interviewed Smriti Mandhana (Brave) and Richa Ghosh (Phoenix) before the match. Following an hour’s early morning shower, weather became ‘hot-and-sunny.’
Phoenix’s innings: *skipper Ellyse Perry (Australia), with other international players Sterre Kalis (NL), Sophie Devine (New Zealand) & Richa Ghosh replacing Suzie Bates NZ; *Without Issy Wong; *[Rhianna Southby keeping wicket for Brave]; *Sophie Devine went ‘leg-before,’ struck on the back of her leg from Tilly Corteen-Coleman’s first ball, without review; *After 25 balls ‘power-play 24/1; *Attempting a ‘square-cut’ three balls later Sterre Kalis was stumped by keeper Rhianna Southby, from Tilly Corteen-Coleman; *Ellyse Perry was caught at ‘long-on’ by Maia Bouchier diving forward, from Georgia Adams; *At mid-way (50 balls) 55/3; *Making a ‘huge-leg-side-heave,’ Richa Ghosh was bowled ‘middle-and-off’ by Lauren Cheatle; *Seren Smale was caught at ‘long-on’ by Maia Bouchier, from Chloe Tryon; *Top-scorer Amy Jones was caught at ‘extra cover’ by Smriti Mandhana, from Freya Kemp; *Finally, Emily Arlott chopped-on to her stumps, bowled by Lauren Bell’s final ball; *Phoenix’s batting: Amy Jones 51(36), Emily Arlott 22(12), Sterre Kalis 14(13), Ellyse Perry 14(14); *Brave’s bowling: Tilly Corteen-Coleman 2/22, Georgia Adams 1/13, Lauren Cheatle 1/14, Freya Kemp 1/22, Chloe Tryon 1/27, Lauren Bell 1/33;
*Brave’s innings *skipper Georgia Adams with international players Lauren Cheatle (Australia), Also with Chloe Tryon (Rep. South Africa) & Smriti Mandhana (India) *Without Charli Knott (Aus); *[Amy Jones keeping wicket for Phoenix]; *Smriti Mandhana was caught by keeper Amy Jones – a ‘tough decision’ upon review, bowled by Ellyse Perry; *Two balls later, Maia Bouchier was caught by keeper Amy Jones upon review finding a clear ’spike’, going for a second-ball duck from Ellyse Perry; *Continuing set-of-ten, Georgia Adams was caught by keeper Amy Jones, from Ellyse Perry; *After 25 balls ‘power-play’ 37/3 (vs 24/1) & *Midway after 50 balls 73/3 (vs 55/3); *Freya Kemp was caught from an outside edge by keeper Amy Jones, from Charis Pavely; *Six balls later, top-scorer Danni Wyatt was caught by keeper Amy Jones, from Hannah Baker; *Struck on front-pad, Chloe Tryon went ‘leg-before’ upon review with ball-tracking hitting ‘middle-and-off,’ to Charis Pavely; *Rhianna Southby was caught by keeper Amy Jones for a second ball duck from Charis Pavely; *Naomi Dattani was caught by keeper Amy Jones from Emily Arlott; *Three balls later, *Lauren Cheatle was ‘run-out’ by Sophie Devine’s throw to the non-striker’s end, from Katie Levick; *Next ball, Lauren Bell was bowled by Katie Levick, handing victory to the home-team; *Brave’s batting: Danni Wyatt 43(33), Freya Kemp 23(19), Smriti Mandhana 15(8), Chloe Tryon 13(13); *Phoenix’s bowling: Ellyse Perry 3/21, Charis Pavely 3/21, Katie Levick 1/16, Hannah Baker 1/21, Emily Arlott 1/31;
*Match result: Birmingham Phoenix 137/7 (1.3 runs-per-ball from 100/100) beat Southern Brave 121/10 (1.2 runs-per-ball, target 138 from 97/100) by 16 runs (with 3 balls remaining)
*Full match courtesy of SKY Sports Cricket free-to-air via YouTube via YouTube [03h30m10s] @url https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y70O2azAsIY
*Fixtures @url https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/3801564/the-hundred-2024-fixtures. *Results with link to match centre for edited highlights [11m12s] courtesy of The Hundred (Women) @url https://www.thehundred.com/results?year=2024
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