A look back at this afternoon’s match between the MI London and Manchester Super Giants women’s teams, which confirmed the elimination of the former. Also a photo gallery.
Today has been a double double header in The Hundred. This post looks back at the game between the MI London and Manchester Super Giants women’s sides earlier this afternoon.
AN INNINGS THAT NEVER GOT STARTED
Sometimes when looking back at an ultimately losing batting performance one can point to a slow start, sometimes to a falling away at the finish. On this occasion everything about the MI London innings was wrong. The dominant figure was Sophie Ecclestone, the tall left arm spin bowler. Ecclestone bowled the first ten balls of the match straight through, and in that period dismissed both openers for the total cost of a single. When a catch by Grace Ballinger off Ryana MacDonald-Gay accounted for MI London skipper Hollie Armitage for 18 the score was 37-4 from 48 balls. Kira Chathli actually did score at above a run a ball, but she was fifth out with the score at 60, caught by Ecclestone off Kathryn Bryce. Nicola Carey got to third top score of 17, but her dismissal, to another catch by Ecclestone, this time off Macdonald-Gay made 78-6 from 82 balls. Chinelle Henry briefly offered hope of a late revival but her dismissal to a catch by Lanning off Brown ended even those modest hopes, and in the end MI London were all out for 92 from the 99th ball of their innings. Only a two off the last ball of her allocation denied Ecclestone the cheapest figures for a full 20 ball allocation in the history of The Hundred (women’s) – those two runs were the sixth and seventh she conceded in the innings, leaving Lauren Bell’s 4-6 still in possession of the palm. As well as two wickets and the two catches already detailed it was Ecclestone’s throw that ran out Tara Norris for a duck.
A FORMALITY OF A CHASE
The Manchester Super Giants opening pair of Meg Lanning and Smriti Mandhana kicked off with a rapid opening stand of 73 that exposed just how utterly abject the MI London innings had been. Although there was a mini-clatter of wickets once this stand was ended, the back of the chase had long since been broken. It fell to Mady Villiers to make the winning hit, a boundary of the 72nd ball of the innings that gave MSG the win with six wickets and 28 balls to spare. MI London came into this match ensconced in the last chance saloon, with last orders having been called, and the barmaid being busy wiping down those tables not yet in use, and their horror-show performance confirmed the end of a challenge that had never really begun. It is ironic given how the involvement of IPL people and money has been hyped up that the first side officially eliminated is one that has been IPL-rebranded. There was only one candidate for Player of the Match/ ‘Match Hero’, Sophie Ecclestone, who was duly so named. Scorecard here.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
A small green beetle in a very pale pink flower not far from the train station.I have never previously seen starlings on what I call ‘Cormorant Platform’, but yesterday a vast number of them took a mid-flight pause there, and this picture and the next two are a result of that.A female house sparrow ensconced in the branches of a buddleia bush near the Eastgate Bridge.A pied wagtail prospecting for insects at Loke Road Rec – the state of the grass tells you how little rain we have had here recently.Five insects here – four, the three on the right as you look and the one on the left are some species of yellow and black beetle. The small one in the centre I cannot work out at all.I am not sure of the species but this is a butterfly of the ‘leaf mimic’ type, looking passably similar to a withered brown leaf.A comma butterfly visiting my garden (two pics) at just the right time to become part of this gallery!
A look at the women’s match between Manchester Super Giants and Trent Rockets in The Hundred today and a photo gallery.
Today in the Hundred the Manchester Super Giants are playing Trent Rockets. The women’s match has already happened, and this post looks back at it.
THE TRENT ROCKETS INNINGS
The home side won the toss and as everyone always seems to in this competition they chose to bowl first. Although the legend that is Beth Mooney failed on this occasion, bowled by Grace Ballinger for 2 that early setback was followed by a superb partnership between Sophia Dunkley and Sophie Luff who each topped 50. Luff went for 51, from just 26 balls, to a catch by Smriti Mandhana off Maitlan Brown. Dunkley scored 57 from 33 balls, falling to a catch by Ryana Macdonald-Gay off Sophie Ecclestone. The Super Giants bowlers arguably had the better of what was left of the innings, though Georgia Adams managed an unbeaten 20 from 13 balls to lift the Rockets score past 150. Most of the Rockets bowlers fared pretty poorly overall, though Ecclestone managed 2-24 from her 20 balls, and Ballinger had 1-21 from her full 2o balls.
THE MANCHESTER SUPER GIANTS RESPONSE
Manchester Super Giants never looked remotely like chasing that Rockets total down. Meg Lanning scored at the required rate, but could not get enough of the strike – she was out to the 72nd ball of the innings, which was her 24th, meaning that as an opening batter she had managed to face just one third of the number of balls bowled while she was at the crease. Kathryn Bryce hit successive fours to bring up the 100, making the ask 54 off 24 balls, but she was out to the very next ball and thereafter, apart from a couple of defiant sixes from the bat of Maitlan Brown it was one-way traffic, with the end coming when Ashleigh Gardner clean bowled Ballinger for a two ball duck to make it 122 all out from 93 balls, a win for Rockets by 31 runs. Sophia Dunkley was named Match Hero having pouched three catches to set alongside her score of 57. Scorecard here.
PHOTOGRAPHS
A common darter (four pics)a red dragonfly near the Gaywood River (I am not sure enough of my dragonflies to give the species of this one).This was discounted – £7 for a 750ml bottle, which is very cheap for olive oil in a British shop.
A look back at a tie in the Hundred (women’s) which featured some great cricket and a very poor ‘match hero’ decision. Also a photo gallery.
Today is a double header day in The Hundred. The early part of the double header was Welsh Fire against Trent Rockets in the women’s. Then there was a choice of two matches – the men’s match from the first double header or the women’s London derby – MI London v London Spirit. I opted for the latter, and was rewarded – the men’s match was a complete non-contest, with the Rockets romping home by nine wickets with 28 balls to spare. The women’s London Derby was rather different…
THE MI LONDON INNINGS
MI London had been put into bat, and for much of their innings it looked like they would have a very modest total to defend. However Chinelle Henry smashed 33 not out off 12 balls at the death, including hitting the last three balls of the innings for 6,4,6. That got MI London to 151. Although Melie Kerr scored more (49 not out off 33 balls), Henry’s was the key innings in making this a defensible score.
THE LONDON SPIRIT INNINGS
For most of their innings London Spirit were ahead on comparison, but they never quite sealed the deal. Every time they looked like doing so someone got out. Marie Kelly hit 45 from 28 balls, before being caught by Henry off Gordon. Marizanne Kapp then looked to be carrying on where Kelly had left off, but immediately after hitting a six off Matthews she attacked again and was caught by Dani Gregory. Then Amy Jones assumed control, but when she had reached 49 she holed out off Kirstie Gordon. Finally, Nadine de Klerk had the chance to win it but holed out to Kerr off Matthews for 13 which left four needed off two balls and a new batter to face. London Spirit skipper Charlie Dean accepted responsibility for this task, and grabbed a single, which left Deandra Dottin on strike and needing three to win from one ball. She did her best, and got back for two to tie the scores, just getting in before the bails were removed – a direct hit would have done for and given MI London a one run win. Somewhat bizarrely Kelly’s 45 got her ‘Match Hero’ – it should quite clearly have gone to Chinelle Henry, whose innings was crucial in getting her side to a score they could even think about defending, who started the London Spirit innings by dismissing the dangerous Grace Harris for a duck, caught by skipper Hollie Armitage, and took the catch that dismissed Kelly off Gordon. If any of those things I have just listed had not happened London Spirit would have won the match, which is why Henry should have had the award and not Kelly. I am annoyed by this verdict, and it is cricket knowledge, not the fact that I grew up in south London that makes me so. Full scorecard here.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
Two pics of a full moon that was very low in the sky and looked much bigger than normal.A red admiral and a bumblebee in one picture.
A look back at the Saturday afternoon/ evening double header involving Welsh Fire and MI London, and a photo gallery.
The weekend saw no fewer than four double headers in The Hundred, two on each of Saturday and Sunday. The second double header on Saturday featured Welsh Fire against MI London, and both matches saw remarkable performances.
THE WOMEN’S MATCH
The London side won the toss and opted to bowl first. Welsh Fire batted very well, especially Sophie Devine (52 off 29 balls) and Georgia Wareham (43 not out off 20 balls), and ended up with a massive 177-4 from their 100 balls. To successfully chase a total of this magnitude you need a strong start, which was just what MI London did not get. Grace Potts bowled 20 of the first 30 balls of the reply, and took out the top three in the MI London order. When Danni Wyatt-Hodge was third out, to the 26th ball of the innings, the score was 33-3 and the match was as good as settled. With the partial exception of Chinelle Henry who scored 30 off 23 balls no MI London batter even threatened to really get going, and in the end they were all out for 117 from 92 balls, giving Welsh Fire a win by 60 runs. Grace Potts, whose bowling at the start of the MI London innings had effectively sealed the deal on a Welsh Fire win should have been ‘Match Hero’, but that award went instead to Georgia Wareham, who had nabbed a couple of wickets to go with her innings referred to above. Scorecard here.
THE MEN’S MATCH
The men’s fixture was dominated by a single player. Rachin Ravindra, a New Zealander who bats left handed and bowls left arm orthodox spin had an astonishing match. He came in to bat at 20-2 from 22 balls, and proceeded to hit 98 off 44 balls with seven fours and seven sixes. Joe Root played the support role with 29 from 26 balls, while Jordan Cox weighed in with 17 not out off nine balls. It is measure of Ravindra’s utter dominance of team mates and opponents alike that Welsh Fire ended with 167-5. Ravindra’s 98 came out of 143 scored while he was at the crease.
MI London were never up with the required rate at any stage of the chase, though while James Vince was going well it looked like they could make a close contest of it. He was fifth out for 66, with the score at 122 and 28 balls left, and his dismissal was courtesy of a return catch by none other than Rachin Ravindra. He was replaced in the middle by Tom Curran. Had he batted really well MI London might still have got close, but as it was all he could scrape was 10 off 11 balls, with one four. The match-losing nature of this innings is readily apparent when you consider a) he came in with his side needing 46 off 28 balls, a tough but not impossible ask, and b) he was out with the score at 150 from 96 balls, meaning that the target was now 18 from four balls which is a huge ask. Rashid Khan managed to get the strike to Sherfane Rutherford, who can hit a big ball, but only one accrued from that delivery, and a requirement of 17 from three balls does not give much of a margin of error. In the event MI London advanced their score by two runs, making the final result a 15 run win for the Welsh Fire. With that blistering 98 and 1-25 from 15 balls with that wicket being the key one of Vince there was never any doubt about who would be ‘Match Hero’ this time – the chap whose parents couldn’t decide whether to honour Sachin Tendulkar or Rahul Dravid and therefore came up with the portmanteau name Rachin for him. Scorecard here.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
A couple of work pictures to start with – this postcard is an old one……as evidence by the stamp, which comes from late in the reign of queen Victoria.An ichneumon wasp on a green leaf……and close up. This species lays its eggs in caterpillars, which the larvae then devour from the inside.A couple of the newest variety of £1 coins. Painted LadyRagwort alive with caterpillars (five pics)GoldfinchesSwans and Cygnets in a section of Bawsey Drain near LynnsportA hoverfly that has evolved to mimic a bumblebee.
A look back at today’s match between the Birmingham Phoenix and Trent Rockets women’s teams and last night’s contest between London Spirit and Manchester Super Giants men’s teams, plus a photo gallery.
This post focuses on two of the most dissimilar cricket matches you could imagine, last night’s match between the London Spirit and Manchester Super Giants (nee Originals) men’s sides (a combination of work yesterday and London Spirit women failing to show any of the quality for which they are named meant that I did not get to follow any of the women’s match), and this afternoon’s match between Birmingham Phoenix and Trent Rockets women’s sides. I will start with the latter first.
ONE WAY TRAFFIC IN BIRMINGHAM
Trent Rockets won the toss and opted to bowl. The biggest selection news was that England skipper Natalie Sciver-Brunt was missing due to workload management. How would Birmingham Phoenix react to their opponents being minus their star player? Almost as badly as a long ago South Africa men’s side did to news that Don Bradman would not be available for their opponents Australia. On that occasion South Africa proceeded to collapse for 36 and 45, still the lowest combined aggregate for which any test side has ever lost all 20 wickets. Here Phoenix were at one stage an eye-popping 15-6. They revived a little from that position, but it was blatantly obvious that they were mainly concerned with actually batting for 100 balls. They failed even to manage this, their tenth wicket falling to the 95th ball of their innings. They had scraped up a measly 64 all out, of which 39 had come from the bat of Ellyse Perry. Extras, with seven, was the second biggest contributor, while Eva Gray made six from number nine, Alana King five from number eight and Linsey Smith four from number 10. The Rockets bowling figures deserve quoting in full:
Kim Garth 15 balls, 11 dots, five runs conceded, two wickets taken. Samantha Bates 20-13-10-3 Georgia Elwiss 20-12-13-3 Katie Levick 20-14-8-1 Ashleigh Gardner 15-5-19-1 Georgia Adams 5-1-4-0
Although Lauren Filer removed Beth Mooney for 4 with an absolute beauty Sophia Dunkley was already motoring by then and the Rockets were 40-1 from 19 balls. Sophie Luff came in at number three, and was instantly in command as well. Trent Rockets won by nine wickets with 69 of their 100 allotted balls unused. Sophia Dunkley had hit 43 not out from 17 balls with eight fours and a six, and Sophie Luff 19 not out from nine balls with four fours. Samantha Bates was named Player of the Match, a verdict with which it would be hard to argue. Scorecard here.
LIVINGSTONE’S LONE HAND
Manchester Super Giants were 65-1 after 42 balls and 105-2 after 67 balls. They fell away horribly from that high water mark, ending with 138-9 from their 100 balls. They bowled better than they had batted, and although Liam Livingstone played a great innings to follow a good effort with the ball London Spirit were never up with the rate at any stage of the chase. It was close in the final stages, but the 98th ball of the Spirit innings, bowled by 23 year old fast bowler Sonny Baker, who had claimed responsibility for closing things out, clean bowled him for 69 from 40 balls, making it 130-5, nine needed from two balls and a new batter coming in. Jamie Overton can hit a ball a very long way, but on this occasion he could do no better than a single, and with eight needed off one ball all Baker had to do was make sure it was a legal delivery. It was, and the heavily hyped James Coles hit it straight to Tom Moores, meaning that London Spirit ended up on 131-6, beaten by seven runs, a famous margin on the other side of the Thames (the match that led to the creation of The Ashes, at The Oval in 1882, went Australia’s way by that margin). Baker had been a little expensive earlier in the innings, but when it really counted he came good and won the match for his side. Livingstone, who had bowled his full allocation of 20 balls and taken 2-14 as well as playing the innings that kept his side in the hunt (though never, pace comments to the contrary by the so-called ‘expert summariser’, actually favourites to reach the target) was named ‘Match Hero’, a rare occasion when such an award to a member of the defeated side was entirely justified. Scorecard here.
PHOTOGRAPHS
A mixed gallery today, with some work pictures to start…
One of the things I am currently doing at work is cataloguing our whole stock of postcards. …one of which has a ‘squared circle’ Crewe Station cancel on an Edward VII stamp, proving genuine age.A painted lady and a bumblebee have targeted the same buddleia head.Three gatekeeper butterflies on one bramble clump.
A look back at the Men’s Hundred (mis)match between MI London and Sunrisers Leeds at The Oval yesterday and a large photo gallery.
The Hundred has undergone a major revamp since last summer, with the IPL getting involved in a big way. This post looks at the early stages of the competition.
NEW ERA OFF TO A FAMILIAR START
The first match of the Hundred in 2026 featured MI London (the former Oval Invincibles, and although the MI derives from the IPL franchise Mumbai Indians, who now own this franchise as well as many others we have been instructed that the required pronunciation is ‘My London’ not ‘M I London’) in action against Sunrisers Leeds (nee Northern Superchargers, also now owned by an IPL franchise, in this case Hyderabad). I missed the women’s match due to being at work, but I did listen to the men’s game.
Sunrisers Leeds, batting first, started brightly, and for more than half of their allotted 100 balls looked to be going very well. The key moment was the dismissal of Mitch ‘the bison’ Marsh for 41, caught by Sam Curran off Tom Curran, which made it 84-3 from 56 balls. That started a collapse, and Leeds were all out for 143 off the penultimate ball of their innings. Richard Gleeson had 4-25 from 19 balls and Sam Curran 2-27 from 15 balls.
Will Jacks and Jason Roy were both out cheaply for the London side, but a good stand between James Vince and Sam Curran took them past 50 before Vince was bowled for 17 to make it 51-3 from 44 balls. That brought Nicholas Pooran, one of the ultimate ‘guns for hire’ in this era of franchise cricket, to the crease to join Curran. Curran batted beautifully, but even he was overshadowed by the pyrotechnics of Pooran. The Oval is a big ground, but most of Pooran’s five sixes cleared the ropes by a very long way. In all the West Indian hammered 58 not out from 22 balls with five of each kind of boundary, Curran ended on 60 not out from 39 balls with five fours and three sixes. The London side had romped home by seven wickets with 16 balls to spare, a barely credible margin in a match in this format. Sam Curran’s all round efforts plus his captaincy of the London side secured him the ‘Match Hero’ award. Some names of changed and there is more money involved, but the franchise based at The Oval still looks formidably strong. Full scorecard here.
PHOTOGRAPHS
After a reminder to click on photos to view them at larger size we move to my usual sign off…
A hummingbird hawkmoth extracting nectar from a buddleia plant……and close up in all its glory.It rained lightly but persistently yesterday morning, and that brought the snails out in force.This red admiral has seen better days.goldfinches on a roof.This feather, which I saw lying near the Gaywood river at Kettlewell Lane Park originally belonged to a blue jay.Two bumblebees enjoying the same buddleia head.A painted lady rests on a patch of gravelA gatekeeper oblingly spreads its wings.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
*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.
+Rhianna Southby (Southern Brave, wicket keeper, right handed batter). The best keeper in the competition, and picked on that basis.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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