Oval Invincibles vs Southern Brave at the Kia Oval (London South) on 8 August 2024
Upon arrival, flags were seen lowered to half-mast, out of respect for the tragic passing of former England player Graham Thorpe MBE, who ‘spent 17 years playing for Surrey’ and earned 100 Test caps for England as a brilliant middle-order batter – please see footnote below. ’Leading the charge’ at the southern derby, top-scorer Danni Wyatt (pictured) [46*not out runs (from 37 balls)] hit the winning ‘six’ and was awarded POTM ‘Meerkat match hero’ cap-and-medal by Dinesh Karthik. Batting first, Invincibles ‘never really got going,’ their innings interrupted twice by rain stoppages. Targets were revised (twice) because of shortened innings, using the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method. *Danni Wyatt made an uncharacteristically cautious start to Brave’s run-chase, partnered for the first half by Maia Bouchier. A second partnership between Danni Wyatt and Chloe Tryon took Brave across-the-line for their first win of the season, albeit finding themselves as defending champions knocked-out of this year’s competition. Post-match, Brave skipper Georgia Adams told commentators she expected to ‘come back stronger,’ for next year’s competition. By comparison, Invincibles ‘have a job on their hands’ to qualify for the next stage.
Introduced for SKY Sports by Nasser Hussain OBE (broadcaster & former England international) with Dinesh Karthik (former India international.) During the rain delay, Ebony Rainford Brent MBE (broadcaster & former England international – director Women’s cricket at Surrey and Chair of Surrey’s ACE Programme) was featured in a pre-recorded presentation that raised awareness of Surrey’s ‘African Caribbean Engagement Programme’ (ACE Programme.) Charity’s three-year’ Blaze Her Trail’ initiative that seeks to: identify, recruit and develop female athletic talent from African and Caribbean backgrounds, with the ultimate goal of producing professional cricketers who can bowl exceptionally fast (75mph +) with the potential to represent Team GB at the Olympics 2028 @url https://aceprogramme.com/blaze-her-trail/Weather: grey cloud cover with intermittent rain. 18C.
*Invincibles’ innings: *skipper Lauren Winfield-Hill, with international players Chamari Athapathatu (Sri Lanka); Amanda-Jade Wellington (Australia); Also Marizanne Kapp (Rep. South Africa); [Georgia Redmayne keeping wicket for Spirit]; *Chamari Athapathatu was caught by keeper Rhianna Southby, from Lauren Cheatle for a third-ball duck; *Alice Capsey was caught by Freya Kemp from Lauren Cheatle; *Rain delay on 38/2 (after 35 balls) lasted for 40 minutes from which point floodlights were switched-on; *When play resumed, match was reduced to 65 balls per side with a revised target of 85; *Commentators’ curse struck immediately after the break when ‘sought-after player’ Lauren Winfield-Hill who ‘never really got going’ was caught by Danni Wyatt, from Tilly Corteen-Coleman; *After 25 balls ‘power-play’ 29/0; *At mid-way (50 balls) 70/3 (vs 47/5); *Paige Scholfield was caught by Chloe Tryon from Tilly Corteen-Coleman; Amanda-Jade Wellington was not out; *Invincibles’ batting: Marizanne Kapp 26(17), Alice Capsey 19(12), Lauren Winfield-Hill 17(23); *Brave’s bowling: Lauren Cheatle 2/6, Tilly Corteen-Coleman 2/19;
*Brave’s innings: *skipper Georgia Adams with international players Lauren Cheatle (Australia), Also with Chloe Tryon (Rep. South Africa) & Smriti Mandhana (India) replacing Charli Knott (Aus); *[Lauren Winfield-Hill keeping wicket for Brave]; *Smriti Mandhana was ‘run-out’ by Lauren Winfield-Hill receiving at the striker’s end from Chamari Athapathatu *Maia Bouchier was bowled by Ryana MacDonald-Gay; *After 25 balls ‘power-play’ 13/2 (vs 29/0); *Freya Kemp was caught by Alice Capsey from Sophia Smale; *Strategic-time-out was called on 59/3; As mentioned above, Danni Wyatt carried her bat, scoring 2 ‘sixes’ and 3 ‘fours’ and hit the winning ’six;’ *Brave’s batting: *Danni Wyatt 46*not out (37); Maia Bouchier 16(11); *Invincibles’ bowling: Ryana MacDonald-Gay 1/7, Sophia Smale 1/16;
*Match result: Southern Brave 85/3 (@1.3 runs-per-ball from 64/65 balls; target 83 from 65 balls) beat Oval Invincibles 79/4 (1.2 r-p-b, from 65/65 balls): by seven wickets with one ball remaining (DLS method)
*Full match courtesy of SKY Sports Cricket free-to-air via YouTube [03h33m15s] @url https://www.youtube.com/live/G84Iinvkpac
*Results with link to match centre for edited highlights courtesy of The Hundred (Women) @url https://www.thehundred.com/results?year=2024
*Fixtures @url https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/3801564/the-hundred-2024-fixtures
Footnote: Graham Thorpe MBE remembered @url https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/cricket/breaking-graham-thorpe-suicide-wife-33442757
