Month: August 2025

A Supercharged Performance

A look back at today’s final of The Hundred (women’s), a showcase of the cockling boat, the Baden-Powell and an image gallery.

Today is Finals Day in the Hundred. The men’s match between Oval Invincibles and Trent Rockets will be underway shortly. I was out yesterday attending a christening, so only found out after the fact about what had happened in the Eliminator matches. This post is mostly focussed on today’s final.

PRELIMINARIES

Southern Brave came into the final having won all of their group matches, while Northern Superchargers were coming off the back of an amazing Eliminator match. Davina Perrin, 18 year old opening batter for the Superchargers, scored a century off a mere 42 balls, as Superchargers set a new competition record score of 214-5, winning by 42 runs over London Spirit. Both sides were unchanged, which meant that Southern Brave had gone through the competition using only 11 players – no changes to the team at any stage. Northern Superchargers won the toss and chose to bowl first.

THE BRAVE INNINGS

Grace Ballinger (left arm medium) opened the bowling and bowled ten balls straight through for only six runs, but no wickets. Kate Cross conceded six from the next five balls. Balls 16-20 were bowled by Annabel Sutherland, and an economical first four were spoilt when the fifth was dispatched for six, the first of the match. The 23rd and 24th balls began to swing things Superchargers way. Of the first of them Bouchier mishit an attempted drive and was caught by Armitage at extra cover, and then the second was an absolute beauty and clean bowled number three Laura Wolvaardt for a first ball duck. The hat trick ball was a wide, and a single came off the 25th legal delivery of the innings. The Power Play ended with Brave 30-2 from 25 balls, Cross 2-15 from 15 of those deliveries. The diminutive Aussie medium pacer Nicola Carey came on immediately the Power Play was done and her first ball went for four. Just as Wyatt-Hodge seemed to assuming control of proceedings Sutherland got one through her defences to make 43-3 from 40 balls, Wyatt-Hodge out for 25 (20). Sophie Devine, one day short of her 36th birthday, and Freya Kemp carried Brave to the halfway stage of their innings with the score 55-3. Devine was fairly sedate given the format, but Kemp started to look threatening, hitting several boundaries as the three-quarter way mark approached. One ball before that landmark Devine was dismissed for 23 to make it 90-4, which was still the score at the three-quarter way point. Progress had been remarkably even – 30 from the 25 ball Power Play, 60 from the middle 50 balls, with two wickets lost in each section of the innings. Freya Kemp had reached 26 when she was caught by Carey off Sutherland to make it 92-5. Two runs later Brave skipper Georgia Adams pushed a ball straight down the pitch, set off and was hopelessly run out to make it 94-6 after 86 balls. Four balls later Kate Cross had finished her day job, with 2-23 to show for her 20 balls, and with ten balls to go the score was 95-6, meaning that in 16 balls a mere five runs had accrued and three wickets had fallen. Mady Villiers, in at number eight for Brave provided some late impetus, striking three boundaries in the closing stages, as Brave scored 25 from the final ten balls of their innings. A score of 115-6 looked modest even on a pitch that was not all that easy to bat on, but if anyone could defend such a score Brave could.

THE SUPERCHARGERS CHASE

Davina Perrin could not repeat her heroics of the previous day at The Oval, but she did score 17 off 11 balls before Bouchier took a catch off Devine to dismiss here. That was 28-1 from 24 balls, and it brought Phoebe Litchfield, Superchargers number three, and my chosen number three when I picked my team of the tournament to the crease. She started superbly, making the struggles of others look like the match was happening on two different surfaces. 40 balls into the innings rain forced the umpires to take the players off briefly. At that point Litchfield was going at better than two per ball. The interruption was not long enough for any balls to be lost from the match, but it was enough to disrupt Litchfield, who never got going on the resumption, going caught by Bell having top edged an attempted sweep against Tryon for 26 (13), making the score 59-3 from 44 balls. Carey joined Sutherland, and got busy from ball one. By the three-quarter way stage Superchargers were 97-3, needing 19 off 25 balls to win. They suffered no stutters, though Sutherland had one moment of great good fortune when Lauren Bell’s last ball of the tournament brushed one of the bails but did not remove it, the bail lighting up briefly to indicate that it had been hit but settling back into its groove atop the stumps. That freakish non-wicket meant that Bell went wicketless for the only time of the tournament – 0-19 from 20 balls. Off the 88th ball of the chase, bowled by Brave skipper Adams, Sutherland hit a six down the ground and Superchargers had won by seven wickets with 12 balls to spare. Sutherland had scored 28 not out from 25 balls, and her compatriot Carey finished 35 not out from the same number of balls. Carey was named player of the match, and Litchfield’s 292 runs for the tournament saw her named Player of the Tournament. An official attendance (calculated at the midpoint of the match to deal with the “they were only there for the men’s match” chauvinists) was 22,542, a record for any fixture in the history of The Hundred (Women’s), and brought the attendance for the tournament to 349,000. Full scorecard here.

THE BADEN-POWELL IN ACTION

This is by of an aperitif to the image gallery that ends this post. The Baden-Powell is an old cockling boat, and this morning while I was out walking it went out on the Great Ouse. I have two videos and six still images to share.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

The Hundred (Women’s) Team of the Tournament

The team of the tournament for the Hundred (Women’s) of 2025 and a large photo gallery.

The league stage of the Hundred is done, ending yesterday, so only two matches remain to be played, the eliminator between Northern Superchargers and London Spirit and the final between the winners of that and Southern Brave, who qualified straight into the final by virtue of winning the league stage (and they did that by a distance). In this post I pick an XI based on my estimates of the players contributions to the tournaments. I will inevitably have overlooked deserving cases, but remember that I can only pick 11 players.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. Danni Wyatt-Hodge (Southern Brave, right handed opening batter). The veteran has had an excellent tournament, not just with the bat, but also with some outstanding fielding.
  2. Kira Chathli (London Spirit, right handed opening batter). Being moved up to open the innings, both for Surrey and for the London Spirit has been the making of 26 year old Chathli, who has been a revelation in her new batting slot. She was one of the first names on the team sheet for this exercise.
  3. Phoebe Litchfield (Northen Superchargers, left handed batter). She has had a great tournament, and I wanted at least one of my team’s leading batters to be a left hander for reasons of balance.
  4. Sophie Devine (Southern Brave, right handed batter, right arm medium pacer). The Kiwi veteran has been a big reason for Southern Brave’s dominance so far this year.
  5. Grace Harris (London Spirit, right handed batter, off spinner). This team’s X-Factor batter, the one who can come in and start blasting right from the first ball she faces. Her bowling probably won’t be required (I rank her seventh in this team’s pecking order).
  6. *Georgia Adams (Southern Brave, right handed batter, off spinner, captain). This was a close call, with Charlie Dean the other candidate, but Adams’ superior batting gets her the nod as this team does have a bit of a tail.
  7. +Rhianna Southby (Southern Brave, wicket keeper, right handed batter). The best keeper in the competition, and picked on that basis.
  8. Alana King (Trent Rockets, leg spinner, right handed batter). One of only two players from a side not to qualify for finals weekend to make this XI. She got the nod for this slot ahead of compatriot Amanda-Jade Wellington.
  9. Mahika Gaur (Manchester Originals, left arm medium fast bowler, right handed batter). The most economical bowler of the competition, beating the player one place below her in this order. She made history when becoming the first player to bowl all of her 20 balls in the Power Play phase (balls 1-10 straight through, five balls out of the attack, balls 16-25 straight through).
  10. Tilly Corteen-Coleman (Southern Brave, left arm spinner, left handed batter). Has had a superb tournament, claiming 11 wickets in eight group matches and going for less than a run a ball.
  11. Lauren Bell (Southern Brave, right arm fast medium bowler, right handed batter). The leading wicket taker of the tournament (even before last night’s frankly ridiculous figures of 4-6 from a full 20 balls against Welsh Fire), she has been the bowling spearhead for the team who have left a chasm between themselves and the rest this tournament.

This side has enough batting for requirements, and that bowling unit of Bell, Gaur, Corteen-Coleman and King, with the remaining 20 balls to be bowled by some combination of Devine, Adams and Harris is outstanding.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

The wicket keeper position can sometimes be a tough one. However I personally only considered one other option, Beth Mooney (Manchester Originals), because I could have used another left handed batter. I would countenance most other suggestions that people might make, with one exception: Amy Jones has had a terrible tournament, and no matter how highly one rates her overall that has to disqualify her. The left arm spin bowling department presents an embarrassment of riches, but Corteen-Coleman has had the best tournament of all of them, and that is reflected in her side’s dominance of the league stage. Feel free to make suggestions of your own, but do remember to consider the effect those suggestions have on the balance of the side.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

I deduce a two stage process leading to the state of this roundabout paint wise: first some fascist painted a red cross on it to make it look like a circular England flag, then someone else countered by painting in the noughts and crosses grid.

Rockets Rocky Ride

A look back at this afternoon’s match between the Trent Rockets and Birmingham Phoenix women’s sides, a look at the standing with one group match to come, and a photo gallery.

Today sees the penultimate group games in The Hundred, Trent Rockets v Birmingham Phoenix. This post looks back at the women’s match and also at the table as it stands with one fixture remaining.

MAKING AN EASY TASK LOOK DIFFICULT

Birmingham Phoenix elected to bat first. Unfortunately they did not bat well. Emma Lamb scored an unbeaten 56, but no one else made a significant score. There were 14s for Ellyse Perry and Marie Kelly, each off 15 balls, but the second best innings for Phoenix was Ailsa Lister’s six ball 12 at the death. At one stage in the chase Rockets were 92-2 with Natalie Sciver-Brunt going well and Ashleigh Gardner having hit a couple of fine shots. Then Ailsa Lister took a superb catch, sprinting in off the boundary and diving forward to complete the catch and dismiss Gardner. Ten runs later Sciver-Brunt departed one ball after reaching her half century, hitting one from Hannah Baker straight to Megan Schutt at cover. Heather Graham fell to another catch by Lister, off Phoebe Brett, and then three balls later Rockets keeper Threlkeld was on her way LBW for 2 and it was 109-6, and suddenly Phoenix had half a chance. Incidentally Amy Jones, Phoenix’s keeper and also England’s current keeper, has had a very poor tournament with the bat, and Threlkeld would be among the potential replacements if England are starting to think about that (Rihanna Southby would be my choice, with Threlkeld and Bess Heath also in the mix). Alana King and Jodi Grewcock seemed to have seen through the danger when King edged Schutt through to Jones and it was 119-7. Kirstie Gordon now came in, and she scored three off the next four balls, which meant that after 96 balls of the chase Rockets needed two to win. Grewcock put the 97th ball of the innings, from Em Arlott, away for four to seal the win for the Rockets.

THE STANDINGS

The six teams who have played all their group fixtures occupy positions two to seven inclusive in the table, and the only positions that might change are at the bottom – if Welsh Fire, last in the table, do the unthinkable and beat Southern Brave, top of the table, in the final game they will leapfrog both Birmingham Phoenix and Oval Invincibles on net run rate. If Brave win the standings will stay as they are at present.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

I think this one (see also next picture) is a moth rather than a butterfly.
The New Conduit Street facing side of the new library/ community hub is now complete.
I saw this (see also next picture) on my way to Gaywood Library this afternoon.

The All Too Vincibles

This afternoon saw the match between Oval Invincibles and London Spirit women’s teams. Invincibles were already eliminated, while Spirit needed a win to apply pressure to Manchester Originals for the third qualifying spot (Southern Brave are already in the final, and Northern Superchargers have already booked their slot in the eliminator on Finals Day). This post looks back at the match.

AN INNINGS THAT NEVER GOT GOING

London Spirit won the toss and put Oval Invincibles in to bat. Of note for them was the presence of Kate Coppack, a pace bowler who was making her Hundred debut. The Invincibles simply never got going, though Coppack’s only visit to the bowling crease yielded eight runs from five balls. Medium pacer Eva Gray and off spinner (and Spirit skipper, and possible successor to Natalie Sciver-Brunt as England skipper) Charlie Dean each recorded 2-12 from their full allocations of 20 balls. Six of the runs Dean conceded came from the 18th and 19th balls she bowled, which were also the 98th and 99th of the innings as a whole. In addition to her bowling and captaincy Dean held two catches, one of them an absolute worldie, leaping into the air and grabbing the ball with an outstretched hand and then keeping control of it as she fell to the ground. Invincibles finished their 100 balls with 108-8 (and it was almost nine down – the last ball was an LBW given on the field, sent upstairs and only confirmed as not in fact out after all the players had left the field). Only Marizanne Kapp with 32 from 25 balls and Paige Scholfield with 22 from 21 balls had made significant contributions with the bat.

A THUMPING WIN

When you have a small total to defend pretty much everything has to go right if you are going to do so. Thus it was a particularly dire warning sign for Invincibles when Kira Chathli (born in Southwark and based at The Oval for all domestic cricket other than The Hundred) was gifted a fast start by Joanne Gardner who let through a four when the ball barely had enough on it to cross the rope, and it should have been an utterly basic matter to limit the damage to a single. Chathli took control of proceedings from that point on, and though the other opener, Georgia Redmayne, took a little longer to find her stride she too played impressively. By the end of the Power Play Spirit were 47-0 and the writing on the wall could have been no clearer had it been in Arial Black 500 Point, bold faced letters. The pace hardly slowed with the field going back. By the time 50 balls, the official half way stage of the chase, arrived Spirit were 93-0. Chathli completed a magnificent 50 with the second six of her innings, having also hit seven fours along the way, and got there in a mere 26 balls. That six also took Spirit past the 100 mark on the 53rd ball of their innings. Redmayne and Chathli both got out with victory a shot away, but Charli Knott put the 62nd ball of the innings away for four to give Spirit an eight wicket win with a barely credible 38 balls to spare. Originals will need to hand Superchargers an even bigger thumping tomorrow to displace Spirit, and this being Spirit’s fifth win of the tournament it officially eliminates Trent Rockets and maintains a proud record in this tournament of no team with a mere even record of four wins and four losses ever qualifying for Finals Day. Charlie Dean was named Player of the Match for her bowling, fielding and captaincy. Full scorecard here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

The Hundred (Women’s) With One Round Left

A look at the situation in The Hundred (women’s) with each side having played seven of their eight group matches. Also a large photo gallery.

After today’s two matches every team in the Hundred (women’s) has played seven of their eight group matches. This post looks briefly at what is going on overall.

THE TABLE IN DESCENDING ORDER

Southern Brave have won all seven of their matches thus far, giving them 28 points. Their net run rate is +1.130, though that is not relevant as they are already guaranteed a place in the final (the top three teams qualify for finals day, with second and third facing off for the right to face the league winners in the final). They have the best bowling unit in the competition, with Lauren Bell the leading wicket taker and young left arm spinner (yesterday was her 18th birthday) Tilly Corteen-Coleman being the most economical bowler in the competition and having a decent haul of wickets as well. They also have a more than adequate batting unit, and as those who have paid attention to my all time XI selections will be aware I tend to look more to bowling strength when picking winners.

Northern Superchargers have won five and lost two giving them 20 points, they have a net run rate of +1.027. They will definitely be involved in Finals Day.

London Spirit and Manchester Originals have each won four and lost three, and after todays disastrous showing against Birmingham Phoenix (facing a total of 111 they suffered a run out on the first ball of their own innings, and thing basically did not improve from there) Originals are behind Spirit on net run rate by a fraction. Also still nominally in the qualification hunt are Trent Rockets, with three wins and four losses and a just positive net run rate. If Rockets beat Phoenix by a huge margin and Spirit and Originals each lose their final game Rockets might sneak in on run rate, but no team in the history of this tournament has qualified with as few as four wins in the group stage.

Oval Invincible and Birmingham Phoenix have each won two and lost five for eight points. Invincibles have a considerably better net run rate.

Adrift at the foot of the table, with a mere one win and six defeats (and that win was achieved after their elimination was confirmed) are Welsh Fire. Fire stacked the top of their batting line up with Hayley Matthews, Sophia Dunkley and Tammy Beaumont and of the three only Dunkley has had a good season. When you rely on three players to do most of the batting and two of the three fail to deliver you will be in trouble. Fire entertained Rockets today and went down by 23 runs, which in a 100 ball a side match is a fairly hefty margin.

A BRIEF LOOK AHEAD

Brave and Superchargers are already booked in for Finals Day. Out of the two realistic other qualifiers (sorry Nottingham folks I am discounting your side for reasons that this post should already have made clear) I would expect Originals to be the ones to join them for two reasons:

  1. Originals face Superchargers in their final group game and Superchargers are already qualified, and will thus be a tiny bit less motivated than Originals.
  2. Originals will be eager to redeem themselves for today’s horror show.
  3. Spirit face Invincibles in their final match and in recent times the record of Lord’s based sided against Oval based sides is not in their favour (to drolly understate the case).

Anything can happen on Finals Day, but I would expect Originals to prevail over Superchargers there, setting up a final between the two sides with the best bowling units. Brave would obviously be favourites, having carried all before them this season, but that final would be one heck of a game.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Invincibles Out

A look back at Northern Superchargers v Oval Invincibles earlier today and a photo gallery.

The first match of today’s Hundred double double header saw Northern Superchargers hosting Oval Invincibles. To retain even a Jim Carrey type “so you’re saying there’s still a chance” hope of qualifying Invincibles needed to win. For Superchargers Kate Cross was playing her first match since finding out that she is not part of England’s world cup plans.

AN INNINGS THAT NEVER GOT GOING

Oval Invincibles won the toss and chose to bat. The first ball of the match, bowled by Grace Ballinger (left arm medium) hit the stumps of Paige Scholfield to make it 0-1. Kate Cross picked up the wicket of Alice Capsey, caught by Superchargers skipper Hollie Armitage for 12 off 12 balls. That was 19-2, which was still the score at the end of the Power Play three balls later. Meg Lanning and Marizanne Kapp both struggled for runs, with the score at 39 Annabel Sutherland bowled Kapp for 6 off 11 balls. Lauren Winfield-Hill batted better than any other Invincibles player. With the score at 64 she lost the support of Lanning, the veteran Aussie having accrued a painstaking 21 from 25 balls. Joanne Gardner, one of the few top level cricketers to hail from the Isle of Wight, now offered sensible support to Winfield-Hill. The 92nd ball of the innings saw Winfield-Hill caught by Cross off Sutherland to make it 110-5, Winfield-Hill 37 off 30 balls. Amanda-Jade Wellington gave Invincibles a hint of hope with 12 off five balls, but a final score of 125-6 look well below par.

AN INJURY HIT DEFENCE

Marizanne Kapp started economically but unpenetratively with the ball. There was a nasty injury to Tash Farrant, who at one point looked likely to be stretchered off, but was in the end able to walk off, albeit with assistance. Capsey also went off injured at one point, but was able to return. However Capsey had bowled only three balls, which meant someone else had to bowl the last two balls of the set, and that Capsey wouldn’t bowl a full allocation even when she did return. These injuries made things more difficult for Invincibles. Alice Davidson-Richards scored a fine 50 for the Superchargers who were ahead at every stage of the chase. Sophia Smale accepted responsibility for bowling balls 91-95, and the event balls 96-100 were not needed at all. The winning shot was a four, which meant that Smale had conceded 32 from her 20 balls. The margin was seven wickets.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

a heron in its watchful pose…
…and on the wing a few moments later.
A moth resting on a bramble petal.

Dog in the Manger Day

An account of today’s match in the Women’s Hundred and a large photo gallery.

Todays women’s match in the Hundred featured last place Welsh Fire and second to last place Birmingham Phoenix, at the latter’s home ground, Fire’s elimination was already sealed, but big wins in their last three games plus a few results elsewhere going their way could still see Phoenix qualify.

THE WELSH FIRE INNINGS

Welsh Fire won the toss and chose to bat, virtually a mandatory decision since Edgbaston is a difficult chasing ground and Phoenix have not won a game when chasing in this year’s tournament. Beaumont swapped positions with Matthews in their order, moving up to open while Matthews came in at three. Dunkley started fast, but Beaumont’s promotion of herself did not work out as she hoped, the Fire captain scoring just 2 before she was out to make it 28-1. Matthews batted well, though scoring somewhat slowly, at number three, while Dunkley scored only the second 50+ score for Fire this season (their other such innings was also from her). Hannah Baker bowled her for 53 to make it 99-2 after 72 balls. Jess Jonassen came in at number four, and it was her contribution that would prove crucial to the result. It was Baker who was the main sufferer of Jonassen’s blitz. The young leg spinner had 1-15 from 16 balls, having accepted responsibility for bowling balls 91-95. She finished her allocation with 1-39, Jonassen having hit four successive sixes (the first two might both have been catches another day, so there was a measure of luck involved, but from 140 being in considerable doubt 160 was now on the horizon, with 150 a near certainty). The Aussie all rounder was out to the 98th ball of the innings, caught by Marie Kelly off Megan Schutt to make it 149-3. Jonassen had scored 44 from 17 balls. One further run accrued after her dismissal, so Phoenix had precisely 150 to defend, which given Phoenix’s chasing record meant the win was definitely on.

THE PHOENIX REPLY

Georgia Voll took a four and single off the first two balls of the reply, bowled by Shabnim Ismail. Then Ismail bowled Emma Lamb with the fourth ball of the reply, giving the opener a second ball duck. That, and the dot ball to Marie Kelly that followed earned Ismail a second straight set of five, and with her sixth ball she struck Kelly’s pads and the umpire’s finger went up. Voll at the non-striker’s end did not suggest a review and Kelly walked off, only for the replay to show that the ball would have gone down the leg side. Voll herself reviewed an upheld appeal by Jess Jonassen which looked to be fairly plumb, but to well nigh universal surprise the replay showed that this one would also have missed leg (most were reckoning that it would have missed both leg and off stumps, by the same margin). Voll and Perry shared a good partnership, though they were always dropping behind the rate. With the score at 61, 29 of them to Voll, Jonassen got revenge for the overturned LBW by clean bowling Voll, a mode of dismissal that cannot be sent upstairs. That was the 45th ball of the innings, and Hayley Matthews’ off spin rounded out the first half of the chase. With the 46th ball of the innings she inflicted a first ball duck on Amy Jones, also bowled. Jones’ choice of shot was foolish but it was also a good ball from Matthews. Sterre Kalis now came in and played a reasonable supporting role for Perry, who was playing a fine innings. The trouble was that Kalis was struggling to score. She seemed to have got going when she struck a six and a four in successive balls, but off the next delivery she holed out to Ismail to give Jonassen a second wicket. Ailsa Lister also struggled for runs, and after scoring four off six balls she aimed a big shot at her seventh ball. bowled by Jonassen, and succeeded only in picking out Ismail. Ismail then accepted responsibility for bowling balls 91-95 (the asking rate by then was basically a boundary per ball, so she was looking to kill the match before the last five balls had to be bowled). The 92nd ball of the chase effectively ended Phoenix hopes of rising from the ashes, both in this match and in terms of the tournament as a whole. Ellyse Perry, Phoenix’ sole remaining hope of a miracle fell to a catch by Jonassen off Ismail to make it 108-7, 43 needed off eight balls at 5.375 per ball. By the time Ismail finished her allocation, with 3-16, the target was 40 off five balls, and almost whoever was chosen to bowl the final five balls was highly unlikely to suffer a sufficiently epic attack of the yips to make that a genuine possibility. In the event the vastly experienced Matthews was entrusted with the task. In those five balls she accounted for both Schutt and Mary Taylor (Mary Taylor is one of twins, with her twin sister Millie also being in the Phoenix squad – Mary bowls medium pace, Millie left arm wrist spin) and gave away only three runs, two of them off the final ball. Phoenix thus finished on 114-9, beaten by 36 runs. That sent them to the bottom of the table, with Fire now above them. Fire had done the ‘dog in the manger’ thing – unable to qualify themselves they had at least played a part in preventing another team from doing so as well. Scorecard here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

If you are wondering about the strange colour of the Purfleet, it is a combination of pollution from a fire in an industrial building and the chemicals being used to neutralize the pollutants and minimize the amount of water that needs to be sacrificed.
This is not a hornet, it is a giant hoverfly that has evolved to resemble a hornet.
I am not sure what this insect is – I saw it on a wooden fence near Bawsey Drain.
This one needs to be seen at full screen size – it is a swarm of bees that I walked past on Columbia Way earlier today.

Three Teams, Two Spots

A look back at the two matches in the Women’s Hundred today and at the effect they had on the table, plus a photo gallery.

Today has been a ‘double double header’ day in The Hundred, and following my usual practice on such days I have listened to both women’s matches and am now tuned into the evening men’s match. This post looks back at what happened today and at how the table now shapes up.

WELSH FIRE v SOUTHERN BRAVE

Welsh Fire came into this match having lost all four of their fixtures this year, while Southern Brave had won all five of theirs. This should then have been an easy game for the Brave, and it looked to be playing out that way when Fire could do no better than 111 from their 100 balls batting first. However, although Brave seemed to have things under control for most of the chase they lost their way quite dramatically late on, and came very close to losing their unbeaten record this season. Off the penultimate ball of the match Georgia Adams played an airborne shot, Katie George made a superb effort in the field but dropped a desperately difficult chance and Adams was able to run the two that Brave needed to clinch the win with three wickets to spare. Fire performed excellently with the ball and in the field, but simply did not have enough runs to defend. Brave with six wins from six games have 24 points, and cannot now fail to qualify for Finals Day (and it will almost certainly be at the head of the table, getting them straight into the final). Fire by contrast are firmly pinned to the foot of the table, and even if every result from here on in goes their way cannot finish higher than fifth. Australian left arm spinner Jess Jonassen took 4-10 from her 20 balls for the Fire.

LONDON SPIRIT v NORTHERN SUPERCHARGERS

London Spirit won the toss and opted to bat first. That was the last moment at which anything went right for them. At low water mark they were 54-6, and over two-thirds of the way through their 100 balls. A minor fightback in the closing stages of their innings got them to 90-8, but that was miles short of a defensible total. Both openers for the Superchargers, Perrin and Davidson-Richards were out cheaply, but thereafter Phoebe Litchfield bossed proceedings, ably supported by another Australian, Annabel Sutherland. When Litchfield hit the winning runs in the form of her tenth four she moved to 55 not out off 38 balls, while Sutherland had 29 not out from 21 balls, and Superchargers had 34 balls as well as eight wickets to spare.

HOW THEY STAND

Southern Brave with a full haul of 24 points from six games are clear at the top. Northern Superchargers, Manchester Originals and London Spirit all have 16 points, also from six games each. Oval Invincibles have eight points from five games, which means that they are not quite out of it yet, but they are in the last chance saloon, with last orders having been called and the tables being cleaned and cleared around them, while Trent Rockets and Birmingham Phoenix are each on four points from five games, and will not feature beyond the group stage, and Welsh Fire, no points from five games bring up the rear. Even after todays wobbles the Southern Brave look by far the likeliest winners.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

A Record Winning Margin

A look back at this afternoons mismatch between the Southern Brave and Oval Invincibles women’s teams, a mention fo the closing stages of Manchester Originals v Northern Superchargers yesterday and a photo gallery.

The first half of today’s Hundred double header saw the Southern Brave and Oval Invincibles women’s teams clash in Southampton. The men’s match is currently underway. This post looks back at the extraordinary events of this afternoon.

A GOOD BATTING PERFORMANCE

Southern Brave openers Danni Wyatt-Hodge and Maia Bouchier both fired today (Bouchier 34 off 23 balls, Wyatt-Hodge 26 from 24 balls), Laura Wolvaardt scored 36 from 19 balls, Freya Kemp 19 from 11 and Sophie Devine 19 off 14. All of this added up to a Southern Brave total of 161-6 from 100 balls, more than ample for the best bowling unit in the tournament to defend one thought.

ONE PART GREAT BOWLING, ONE PART BAD BATTING

Oval Invincibles never got going at any stage, and wickets fell with ever increasing regularity. Only Tilly Corteen-Coleman, whose 1-25 from her 20 balls was still way less than Invincibles could afford, went for more than a run a ball. It was only a boundary from her penultimate ball that even pushed Bell’s ER for the day above half a run per ball. Only Joanne Gardner, with 10 off nine ball scored at better than a run a ball. Top scorer was leg spinner Amanda-Jade Wellington, not someone usually expected to figure seriously with the bat, with 18 from 18 balls. Probably the worst knock out of a terrible bunch was Marizanne Kapp’s 17 ball 10, somewhat worse than a total reversal of the required scoring rate. At low water mark Invincibles were 47-8, but Sophia Smale (another of the phalanx of left arm spinners featuring in this tournament) and debutant Daisy Gibb helped Wellington to raise the score by 25. Thus the final margin was 89 runs, the biggest in the history of the Women’s Hundred. Brave look to be winning the group outright, while Invincibles qualification hopes hang by the slenderest of threads – they need three wins from their remaining three games and a bit of luck elsewhere, and after the monstering they suffered today net run rate is not going to be their friend. Manchester Originals, successful by five runs over Northern Superchargers yesterday, courtesy of an exemplary display of death bowling from Ecclestone (who did enough with balls 91-95 to leave NSC needing nine to win off the last five) and Filer, who pretty much settled things with balls 96-98, conceding only one run, and causing Kate Cross, forced to go big, to hole down the ground to leave eight needed off two and a brand new batter on strike, look the likeliest challengers to Southern Brave – they also have a splendid bowling unit.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

This coin remains in my possession – I am reluctant to spend it, though I have not added it to my collection of railwayana.

Welsh Fire Woes

A look back at the matches between Oval Invincibles and Welsh Fire yesterday, which pretty much ended the qualification hopes of both Welsh Fire men’s and women’s teams. Also a photo gallery.

The Hundred is beginning to reach the stage at which teams have an idea of their likelihood of progression. One team who are all but certain not to progress in the Women’s and very unlikely to progress in the Men’s are Welsh Fire. This post looks back at yesterday afternoon and evening when they were at The Oval facing Oval Invincibles.

THE WOMEN’S MATCH

Oval Invincibles batted first, and largely thanks to Alice Capsey (55 off 34 balls) and Marizanne Kapp (47 not out off 32) they tallied 150-5 from their 100 balls, a fine score in this format in most circumstances. Sophia Dunkley batted excellently for Fire, but support was conspicuous by its absence. Second top scorer in the end was Katie George with 16, and the match ended with two dismissals that could have been mistaken for action replays of each other, Shabnim Ismail and Katie Levick, numbers 10 and 11, each going caught by Meg Lanning off Sophia Smale. The Welsh left arm spinner with the aid of these gift wickets at the end took 3-13 from 17 balls (the wickets fell to the 96th and 97th balls of the innings). The margin was 39 runs, and Welsh Fire, half way through their group fixtures (there are eight rounds of group fixtures as each side plays each other side once, with the exception of ‘derby’ fixtures which are played twice, the quotes round ‘derby’ because some of them are blatantly no such thing – Welsh Fire’s ‘derby’ is against Southern Brave, based in Southampton, which as far as I am aware has never had any rivalries with Cardiff based teams before) are yet to accrue a point. With only the top three qualifying for finals day (second play third for the right to face the group winners in the final) an even record of four wins and four losses, the best Fire can now achieve, gives almost a 0% chance of qualifying, and Fire’s net RR, the one thing that might give them hope, is an abysmal -1.444.

THE MEN’S MATCH

Invincibles also batted first in this one. Tawanda Muyeye, born in Zimbabwe, but now England qualified, and likely to play for them, and Will Jacks opened up with a stand of 76 from 39 balls, 38 for Jacks, 33 for Muyeye. This turned out to be a mere prelude to a thunderous assault by Jordan Cox, only playing for Invincibles because of an injury to Ollie Pope. Cox scored 86 not out from 29 balls, hitting 10 sixes and three fours along the way. Invincibles ended with 226-4 from their 100 balls, comfortably a new record for the competition. For comparison purposes this score equates to 271 in a T20. The most bizarre feature of a generally sick looking Fire bowling card concerned left arm spin bowling all rounder Saif Zaib. He bowled five balls, taking 1-6, and that was it, while the 95 balls bowled by bowlers other than him were spanked for 220 runs between them. No one actually went as many as 50, but Ajeet Singh Dale had 1-46 from 15 balls, which suggests that his and Zaib’s share of the bowling duties were the wrong way round. Unsurprisingly Fire never looked like getting anywhere close to chasing this monumental total down. They, like the women’s side earlier, ended up not batting the full 100 balls, being out for 143 from the 93rd ball of their innings. They have one win from four matches, and a dreadful net run rate. If they win all their remaining games they might qualify, but the odds are not on their side.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…