Today in the Hundred the Trent Rockets are entertaining Birmingham Phoenix. I am typing this immediately after the end of the Phoenix innings (they won the toss and batted first).
139-3 NOT GOOD ENOUGH?
The Phoenix total referred to in the headline above is roughly equivalent to 165 in a T20 innings for comparison purposes. Undoubtedly a respectable score, but not an invincible one. Ellyse Perry scored 66 of the runs off 33 balls in a magnificent display. That means that the rest of the Phoenix innings was 73 off 67 balls. Sterre Kalis was scoring at a rate of below a run a ball for most of her innings, and even after picking things up late on she had a mere 48* (42) to show for her efforts, and it is not as though she had the excuse of worries over Phoenix’s batting depth – Amy Jones faced only three balls in the innings, and Suzie Bates, down to bat at five, never got in at all, the third wicket, a run out, happening on the 100th ball of the innings. Even after those two there were still Fran Wilson, Emily Arlott and Seren Smale who can handle a bat to come – Phoenix left a lot of resources unused in this innings. Rockets themselves have questions to answer – Alexa Stonehouse bowled the first 10 balls of the match straight through, yielding only six runs and was not called on for the rest of the innings. The ten balls she did not bowl were bowled by Amanda-Jade Wellington who leaked 29. Of the four Rockets bowlers who bowled a full allocation Heather Graham was the stand out with 1-15. Nat Sciver-Brunt (0-30) and Kirstie Gordon (0-32) were expensive, and such are Alana King’s usual standards that she would regard 1-26 as a disappointing return.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
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