Trent Rockets were victorious in a nervy must-win encounter against Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred at Edgbaston.
Rockets drew level on points with third-placed Northern Superchargers to keep themselves in the hunt for a place in the knockouts, as they came out on top by three wickets with just three balls to go in a tense affair.
Birmingham Phoenix won the toss and chose to bat, with both sides sitting on six points in the table and looking for the opportunity to keep their seasons alive. Phoenix had to make do without Sophie Devine, forced to miss out through injury.
That required a batting-order shuffle for Phoenix but their shuffled top order did not last long: three wickets fell early for the home side as they lost captain Ellyse Perry, Fran Wilson and Amy Jones in the opening 15 balls before they had yet made double digits.
Alexa Stonehouse grabbed the big wicket of Perry, Sciver-Brunt dismissed her one-time housemate Wilson and her ‘maid of honour’ Jones first ball.
Phoenix’s recovery was as impressive as it was crucial, with Sterre Kalis and India international Richa Ghosh putting on 95 for The Hundred women’s competition’s record fourth-wicket partnership. Ghosh made 41 from 36 and Kalis 47 from 44 as they took the hosts to 112-6 – something to bowl at.
After her early wickets Sciver-Brunt finished with figures of 2-16. Australia international spinner Ash Gardner also picked up a critical late couple of wickets to take 2-17.
Phoenix needed early wickets to help them defend their below-par total and they managed just that, with Bryony Smith and Nat Wraith dismissed in the first 20 balls.
Unfortunately for Phoenix that brought Sciver-Brunt to the crease, the leading run scorer in The Hundred this year – and the record holder for the highest aggregate in the women’s competition.
With Sciver-Brunt and Gardner at the crease the visitors looked to be cantering in the chase, but a flurry of wickets at an inopportune moment from balls 70 to 80 – including a timely run out from Perry – made things suddenly appear much trickier for the Rockets.
Not for the first time, the Rockets found themselves trying to scrap over the finish line, but this time it was a must-win encounter.
They perhaps benefited from a debatable no-ball call, which saw Josie Groves reprieved having initially been given out caught, but on this occasion they had enough in the locker to get over the line – Katie George there at the end alongside Groves to keep alive Rockets’ hopes of going further in The Hundred.
Player of the match – Nat Sciver-Brunt
“I was very happy with how the ball came out. I probably haven’t had that much success or that much consistency, so I was very happy with my personal bowling performance.
“We were pretty happy with what we restricted them to. They got a bit of a partnership together, but when we got early wickets, we knew they were going to get a partnership together at some point. We were making sure we weren’t getting ahead of ourselves or panicking and the bowlers at the end stayed calm.
“In terms of the chase we probably got ahead of it a bit earlier and gave ourselves a bit of relief towards the end, so the pressure didn’t build up too much. For the two batters to come out at the end, who hadn’t faced many balls, they were very brave, and I was really pleased for them to get the job done.
“We’ve had so many close games, so to come out on the right side of it this time feels really good. It’s still all in our hands, if we beat the Oval Invincibles in our last game then we will be in that top three.”
What’s next?
The Hundred continues on Tuesday August 13 with another double-header between Northern Superchargers and London Spirit.
You can watch the women’s match on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket from 2.30pm, first ball at 3pm, and the men’s match on Sky Sports Cricket from 6pm.
Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.
