Southern Brave vs Welsh Fire at Southampton, East (Utilita Bowl) on 14 August 2024;
Top-team Fire made a ‘commanding performance’ that knocked-out the defending champions by a wide margin of nine wickets. Batting first, Brave quickly lost Danni Wyatt and Smriti Mandhana to mis-timed shots from spin (Hayley Matthews) and pace (Shabnim Ismail. Commentators reported a ’big blow’ with both openers gone, sensing ‘deep trouble’ on 15/2: with one of the lowest-ever recorded ‘power-play’ scores. ‘Good glove work’ by keeper Sarah Bryce stumped skipper Adams for single figures and only spirited resistance from Chloe Tryon who made ‘fifty.’ Partnered by Rhianna Southby, the pair added 52 for Brave’s eighth wicket to give Brave’s bowlers ‘something to bowl at.’ Before the match, Natalie Germanos interviewed Tammy Beaumont (pictured) about Fire’s successful journey to the finals of the Women’s Hundred. Skipper Tammy Beaumont who made ‘fifty,’ [59*not out (from 40 balls)] staged a match-winning partnership with Hayley Matthews, that made light work of Fire’s run-chase; reaching 79/1 by mid-way.
Emphatically hitting the winning ’four,’ Hayley Matthews booked Fire’s golden-ticket to the Women’s Hundred Finals. Said to have taken ten wickets from her last three games, Hayley Matthews received POTM ‘Meerkat match hero’ cap-and-medal for what she described as a ’complete team performance.’ When bowling Hayley Matthews took four wickets (4-fer: 4/14) please see video below. Separaely post-match, Charlotte Edwards CBE expressed disappointment for Brave (as head coach): touched upon their player selection process and promised to come back stronger next year. Commentators for SKY Sports were Natalie Germanos (broadcaster & actress from Rep. South Africa TV), Charles Dagnall (broadcaster & former county player), Simon Doull (NZ broadcaster & former NZ international) and Mark Butcher (former county player.) Weather was humid, but slightly cooler than recent days, around 20C.
*Brave’s innings *skipper Georgia Adams with international players Chloe Tryon (Rep. South Africa) & Smriti Mandhana (India) without Lauren Cheatle (Aus) injured; *[Sarah Bryce keeping wicket for Fire]; *Danni Wyatt went aerial from a ‘slog-sweep’, that wasn’t middled, but caught at ‘cow corner’ by Sophia Dunkley from Hayley Matthews; *Smriti Mandhana was bowled by Shabnim Ismail; ; *15/2 after 25 balls ‘power-play’; *Georgia Adams was stumped by keeper Sarah Bryce, coming down-wicket to Jess Jonassen; *Maia Bouchier was caught at ‘long-on’ by Phoebe Franklin taking a ‘terrific catch’, from Hayley Matthews; *Mid-way (50 balls) 45/4; *Freya Kemp snicked-an-outside-edge to keeper Sarah Bryce from Jess Jonassen; *Naomi Dattani was bowled by a ‘jaffa’ ‘through-the-gate’ to ‘off-stump’ with bails flying, from Hayley Matthews; *Kalea Moore was stumped by keeper Sarah Bryce, for a second-ball duck from Hayley Matthews; *Chloe Tryon who made ‘fifty’ was caught at ‘long-off’ by Hayley Matthew from Jess Jonassen; *Two balls later, Rhianna Southby was caught at ‘long-on’ by Hayley Matthew from Freya Davies; *With spirited resistance, Chloe Tryon made top-score, contributing ‘fifty’ to give Brave’s bowlers something to bowl at. *Finally, Lauren Bell was caught ‘top-handed’ by Shabnim Ismail’s leap, from Freya Davies’ final innings ball; *Brave’s batting: Chloe Tryon 55*not out(48), Rhianna Southby 15(17); *Fire’s bowling: Hayley Matthew 4/14, Jess Jonassen 3/21, Freya Davies 2/14, Shabnim Ismail 1/16;
*Fire’s innings: *skipper Tammy Beaumont with international players Hayley Matthews (WIndies); Jess Jonassen (Australia); *[Rhianna Southby keeping wicket for Brave]; *Only one wicket fell when Sophia Dunkley was caught by Danni Wyatt from Lauren Bell; *After 25 balls power-play 36/1 (vs15/2) needing 68 from 75 balls; *Mid-way (50 balls) 79/1 (vs 45/4) as mentioned above, needing 25 from 50 balls; *Fire’s batting: *Top-scorer Tammy Beaumont 59*not out (40); Hayley Matthews 35*not out (26); *Brave’s bowling: Lauren Bell 1/18;
*Match result: Welsh Fire 106/1 (1.4 runs-per-ball, target 104 from 74/100) beat Southern Brave 103/10 (1.0 r-p-b, from 100/100) by nine wickets (and with 26 balls remaining)
*Full match including match highlights courtesy of SKY Sports Cricket for ‘The Hundred’ (Women) free-to-air via YouTube [03h36m35s] @url https://www.youtube.com/live/WXc9cA-VNl0
*Hayley Matthew ‘brilliant 4-fer’ – taking 4 wickets [01m35s] @url https://www.skysports.com/cricket/video/30998/13196898/piece-of-cake-for-her-today-hayley-matthews-brilliant-four-for-in-the-hundred
*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
