London Spirit Women v Southern Brave Women at Lords on 1 August
With four straight wins, ‘Brave’ are top of the table ‘on a roll’ with 8 points. ‘Spirit’ are the first team to be bowled-out inside 100 balls. Receiving ‘Hero-of-the-match’ cap and medal, Australian Amanda-Jade Wellington (4/14) said she was ‘proud of the girls’ and ‘wanted ‘Brave’ to keep going to the final.’ Wellington last played for Australia 3 years ago, before the ‘covid’ pandemic
Bedfore 15,189 spectators at Lords, ‘The Hundred’s’ 15th match was broadcast live (commentators included Ebony Rainford Brent, Kumar Sangakkara, Dinesh Karthik and guest Fran Wilson) from SKY Sports TV plus cricket social media (Matt Roller for EPSN-cric-info) *Commentators thought that ‘Brave’ were ‘clinical,’ keeping ‘Spirit’ short of a defendable total *Between innings, Ebony Rainford Brent said ‘Spirit’ were ‘stuck down a very big hole’
*Bizarrely during the rain-affected power-play, ‘Spirit’ gained more extras than runs. ‘Brave’ finished with 25 wides (compared to 4)
*Former Sri-Lankan cricketer Kumar Sangakkara said that Tammy Beaumont was one ‘Spirit’ batter who stood out (with 34 runs from 45 balls)
*Only Beaumont made double figures as ‘Spirit’ fell short of posting a defendable total of 100 runs at a run-a-ball. By comparison, all ‘Brave’ players-bar-one made double figures.
*Australian Amanda-Jade Wellington took 4 of ‘Spirit’s’ top order wickets with her ‘leg breaks’ – that included two catches by Smriti Mandhana from mis-timed shots by skipper Heather Knight (3) and Tammy Beaumont
*Batting for ‘Spirit’ at No5, Deepti Sharma (0) lost sight of the ball, stumped for a ‘golden duck’ by Carla Rudd *Rudd made two further stumpings involving Danielle Gibson (2) and (4) Amara Carr: both tail-enders looking for quick runs
*With neck-and-neck scores for most of the match, ‘Brave’ lost fewer wickets.
*When Sophia Dunkley (22 from 19) was caught by Deandre Dottin off Deepti Sharma (mistiming a reverse sweep) ‘Brave’ needed less than one-run-per-ball (35 runs from 38 deliveries)
*Commentators added that Maia Bouchier (15* from 11) played well, partnering Stafani Taylor (29 from 32) to see ‘Brave’ safely across the line with a confidence-boosting 38-run partnership, without further loss
Result: ‘Southern Brave Women’ 97/3 beat ‘London Spirit Women’ 93 All Out, by 7 wickets with eight balls remaining
‘London Spirit W’ (LS-W) 93-10 (0.96 runs-per-ball) 96 balls
Tammy Beaumont 34 (from 45 balls) ‘Brave’ bowling Amanda-Jade Wellington 4/14, Fi Morris 2/17, Anya Shrubsole 1/14, Lauren Bell 1/19, Stafanie Taylor 1/20; Fow 1-3, 2-32, 3-40, 4-41, 5-70, 6-76, 7-78, 8-82, 9-87, 10-93
‘Southern Brave W’ (SB-W) 97-3 (1.05 rpb) 92 balls
Stafanie Taylor 29*(32), Sophia Dunkley 22(19), Danni Wyatt 21(22), Maia Bouchier 15*(11); ‘Spirit’ bowling: Deepti Sharma 2/10, Charlie Dean 1/16 Fow 1-19, 2-38, 3-59;
