Birmingham Phoenix Women v Oval Invincibles Women at Edgbaston on 4th August
Between innings, left-arm pacer Tash Farrant (3/23) went top of the bowler’s leader board adding another three wickets to her cumulative total of 11 wickets; taking 2 more than her main rivals (Australia’s Sammy-Jo Johnson and WIndies Hayley Matthews.) After the match, Farrant said she was ‘surprised’ to receive ‘Hero-of-the-match’ adding that she’d trained hard, was ‘loving every second’ and the ‘added crowd noise’ made ‘The Hundred’ a ‘great tournament’
Before the match ‘Invincibles’ skipper Dane van Niekerk was asked rhetorically, if she lacked ‘fire-power’ without key star players: both South Africans (Kapp and Ismail): who were non-starters for a third time. ‘Phoenix’ skipper Amy Jones told Mark Butcher she’d made one change: Phoebe Franklin replacing Emily Arlott. As both skippers departed from the outside broadcast ‘pod’ Butcher said that ‘Phoenix’ had to win to stay in contention – adding humourously they were: ‘In a spot of bother’, stuck outside the ‘Last Chance Saloon.” ‘Phoenix’ had one win to their name, narrowly beating ‘Originals’ – a team that ‘Invincibles’ had beaten by a comfortable margin. ‘Invincibles’ (unchanged) had played four, won twice and lost twice. Commentators expressed concern that although both losses had gone ‘down to the wire,’ they’d twice ‘made a mess:’ by failing to chase-down modest scores
‘The Hundred’s’ 18th match was broadcast live (commentators included Rob Key, Mark Butcher and Lydia Greenway with guest Tammy Beaumont from SKY Sports TV) plus cricket social media (Valkerie Baynes and Chandan Duorah from ESPN-cric-info social media.)
*’Phoenix lost 2 early wickets during their powerplay, including Australian Katie Mack (14 runs from 10 balls) handing Tash Farrant her 10th wicket
* After 25 balls of ‘power-play, ‘Phoenix’ were 28/2 (compared to ‘Invincibles’ 34/0); Australian Erin Burns 45(28) was top scorer
* Tash Farrant claimed her 11th wicket as ‘Phoenix’ closed with a defendable score on 129-9. Commentators were convinced the target would be ‘tricky to chase down’
*’Invincibles’ skipper Dane van Niekerk was commended for ‘leading from the front,’ swapping batting places with Alice Capsey (Nos 1 & 5)
*’Phoenix’ fielders suffered 5 dropped catches, the first vertical ‘skyer’ dropped at mid-wicket by Kirstie Gordon (score on 71/0); from Dane van Niekerk
*Tammy Beaumont sympathised that ‘dropped catches are made worse when the next ball goes for ‘four” – seeing Georgia Adams loft the next ball over Kirstie Gordon’s head
*At 90/1, Georgia Adams (42 from 30) who hit one ‘six,’ was caught (at the third attempt after two earlier reprieves) – this time an easy catch for Shafali Verma
*5th dropped catch followed Fran Wilson’s 4(5) departure. *No further wickets fell after Wilson cannoned Kirstie Gordon’s spin straight on to her stumps
*Dane van Niekerk hit the second ‘six’ of the match during the penultimate over, leaving 16 yo Alice Capsey (14*) to face Issy Wong’s ‘death’ over (rather than Erin Burns)
*Back on strike after taking a ‘single’ and with scores level, Dane van Niekerk (67* from 51) hit the winning ‘four,’ dispelling earlier ‘run chase’ doubts; with three balls to spare
*pConcluding, commentators said they ‘never had any doubts’ as ‘Invincibles’ were ‘on top all-the-way’ with a ‘superb’ run chase ‘led from the front’ by skipper Dane van Niekerk
Result: ‘Oval Invincibles -W’ 133/2 beat ‘Birmingham Phoenix -W’ 129/9 by 8 wickets and with three balls remaining
Birmingham Phoenix -Women’ (BP-W) 129-9 (20 ov, 1.3 rpb) Erin Burns 45 runs (from 28 balls), Katie Mack 14(10); ‘Invincibles’ bowling: Tash Farrant 3/23, Dane van Niekerk 2/16, Eva Gray 1/9, Danielle Gregory 1/18, Mady Villiers 1/27, Alice Capsey 1/33, Fow 1-1, 2-52, 3-28, 4-51, 5-69, 6-85, 7-106, 8-109, 9-117
‘Oval Invincibles -Women’ (OI-W) 133-2 (97 balls, 1.37rpb) Dane van Niekerk (67* runs off 51 balls) Georgia Adams 42 (30), Alice Capsey 14*(11); ‘Phoenix’ bowling: Kirstie Gordon 2/20; Fow 1-90, 2-103
