Sunrisers chalked-up their third win of the season, this time beating Sparks; having chalked-up victories in previous rounds against Storm and last season’s finalists The Blaze. Considering how disastrously the match started for their opponents: commentators were ‘left speechless’ as Sparks lost both openers for ducks, but later thought that Sparks ‘came back’ well after Abbey Freeborn ‘fought back’ with 93. Despite their recovery, Sparks went down to their third successive defeat. Sunriser’s skipper Grace Scrivens (pictured) scored a skipper’s ‘ton,’ carried her bat and hit the winning ‘four’ to clinch Sunrisers victory with 118*not out. Grace Scrivens formed two match-winning partnerships

. Firstly, with Cordelia Griffith adding 110 (19 overs) Secondly, adding 59 with Amara Carr (9 ov.)  Commentators: Claire B Jenkins (women’s cricket commentator, senior lecturer, former player for Somerset women), Mike Perkins (Sports Journalist) & Georgie Heath (HerGameToo social media co-host.) Sunny, mild with commentators sat comfortably outside.

*Sparks’ innings *Skipper Evelyn ‘Eve’ Jones with Hannah Baker (England A) Davina Perrin (England u-19s) *Debutante Courtney Webb (Australian Big-bash) replacing Ami Campbell, also without Issy Wong [*Amara Carr keeping wicket for Sunrisers] *Carbon-copy dismissals saw both Eve Jones and Chloe Brewer caught by the keeper with ‘only one run on-the-board;’ *After 10 overs power-play 13/2; *Next two dismissals involved skied catches; Before mid-way, Courtney Webb was caught at ‘mid-wicket’ by Grace Scrivens from seamer Esmae MacGregor; *At mid-way 74/3; *After mid-way, Davina Perrin skied ‘into the bucket’ collected by Grace Scrivens, from Jo Gardner; *Katie George was short-lived, caught at ‘point’ by Ariana Dowse, also from Jo Gardner; *Commentator’s curse struck as Abbey Freeborn who’d ‘fought Sparks back’ into contention, was caught by Mady Villiers diving forward, from Nicola Hancock; *Bethan Ellis was caught at ‘mid-wicket’ by Esmae MacGregor from Jodi Grewcock (whose overs were relatively quick); *Six balls later, Emily Arlott skied to keeper Amara Carr, from Nicola Hancock; *Grace Potts skied a catch to Jo Gardner ‘who did well’ to avoid a collision, from Kate Coppack; *Finally, Hannah Baker was caught by Ariana Dowse from Nicola Hancock’s ‘death over’; *Sparks’ batting with four ‘skied catches; Abbey Freeborn 93(145), Bethan Ellis 31(35), Courtney Webb 28(52), Davina Perrin 15(22), Ria Fackrell 12*not out(9), Emily Arlott 10(8); *Sunrisers’ bowling Kate Coppack 3/26, Nicola Hancock 3/34, Jo Gardner 2/13, Esmae MacGregor 1/29, Jodi Grewcock 1/49;

*Sunrisers’ innings *Skipper Grace Scrivens with Mady Villiers (England A) Jodi Grewcock (England u19s) & Nicola Hancock (Australia Big-bash) *Without Kelly Castle (injured) [Abbey Freeborn keeping wicket for Sparks] *Ariana Dowse was caught for a duck at second slip by Katie George one-handed, from Grace Potts; *After 10 overs power-play 57/1 (vs 13/2); *Cordelia Griffith was caught by Katie George from Ria Fackrell; *Jodi Grewcock went ‘leg-before’ attempting to sweep Ria Fackrell; *At mid-way 123/3 (vs 74/3); Mady Villiers was caught at ‘mid-wicket’ by Katie George, from Bethan Ellis; *Amara Carr was caught by substitute fielder, from Bethan Ellis; *As mentioned above, Grace Scrivens scored a skipper’s ‘ton,’ carried her bat and hit the winning ‘four.’ *Sunrisers’ batting *Grace Scrivens partnership with Cordelia Griffith for 19 overs added 110; *Grace Scrivens partnership with Amara Carr for 9 overs added 59; *Grace Scrivens 118*not out (123), Cordelia Griffith 37(48), Amara Carr 26(35), Mady Villiers 16(14); *Sparks’ bowling Bethan Ellis 2/38, Ria Fackrell 2/51, Grace Potts 1/37;

Match result: Sunrisers 214/5 (@5.4 runs-per-over, from 39.4 overs/target 214 from 50 ov) beat Central Sparks 213 (@4.2 rpo from 50 ov) by five wickets with 62 balls remaining

*Scorecard courtesy of ECB @URL https://www.ecb.co.uk/rachael-heyhoe-flint-trophy/match-centre/104431#scorecard

*Match free-to-air courtesy of Central Sparks (NV Play) via ‘YouTube’ <5h00m36s> @URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF-GK_kgYos

*Footnote: Originally at Worcester, a changed venue notification was issued @URL https://www.centralsparks.com/post/venue-change-for-sunrisers-home-game