The home side Southern Brave, led by skipper Georgia Adams, were up against Birmingham Phoenix, led by skipper Ellyse Perry, at the Rose Bowl, Southampton, in the 7th match of the tournament, the first clash of the double-header on Sunday. Southern Brave kick-started their campaign with a comprehensive 6-wicket win against Manchester Originals in their previous game. Birmingham Phoenix are also riding high on confidence, courtesy of their 11-run win against Trent Rockets.
In the 2nd game of the doubleheader on Saturday, the London Spirit, led by skipper Charlie Dean, stunned the Welsh Fire, led by skipper Tammy Beaumont, to clinch a thriller by two runs at Cardiff.
Danielle Wyatt-Hodge shines with her 9th half-century
The Birmingham Phoenix skipper, Ellyse Perry, won the toss and opted to bowl first at Southampton. The Brave opening batter, Maia Bouchier, failed to capitalise on the reprieve given by Megan Schutt as she overstepped on the delivery that got her out in her 2nd set of the innings. Georgia Voll eventually got the better of her in the very next delivery to send her back to the pavilion, providing the first breakthrough for Birmingham Phoenix.
Laura Wolvaardt joined Danielle Wyatt-Hodge at the crease, and the duo stitched a crucial 48-run partnership for the 2nd wicket. The departure of a free-flowing Laura Wolvaardt (28 off 19 balls) didn’t shatter the momentum for the Brave as Sophie Devine joined Danielle Wyatt-Hodge, and the pair stitched another brisk 52-run partnership for the 3rd wicket to take their side to the 120-run mark. Megan Schutt struck twice to remove a dangerous Danielle Wyatt-Hodge (59 off 39 balls), and Freya Kemp 1 (2 balls) to pull things back for Birmingham.
Southern Brave eventually posted a competitive total of 139/7 in their quota of 100 deliveries. Sophie Devine (27 off 25 balls) chipped in with a crucial contribution with the bat for her side. Lauren Bell (20-9-19-2), Megan Schutt (20-10-23-2), Millie Taylor (20-5-25-1), and Georgia Voll (10-2-12-1) were impressive with the ball for Birmingham Phoenix.
Birmingham Phoenix fall short despite a late flourish from Sterre Kalis
Chasing a target of 140, Birmingham Phoenix got off to a horrible start as they were reduced to 22/3 inside the powerplay. Wicket-keeper batter Amy Jones (20 off 14 balls) joined skipper Ellyse Perry, and the pair revived the run chase with a crucial 37-run partnership for the 4th wicket, which also took them past the 50-run mark.
It was followed by another crucial 36-run partnership between Sterre Kalis and skipper Ellyse Perry (26 off 21 balls) for the 5th wicket, getting them closer to the 100-run mark. The partnership brought Birmingham Phoenix back into the contest. Sophie Devine got the big scalp of the opposition skipper, Ellyse Perry, to provide the much-needed 5th breakthrough for Southern Brave.
Sterre Kalis (44 off 34 balls) continued to take the attack to the opposition bowlers. However, eventually, it wasn’t enough to get Birmingham Phoenix over the line as they were eventually bundled out for 124, with one ball to spare, falling 15 runs short of the target. A promising innings from Georgia Voll (10 off 7 balls) at the top of the order was one of the positives with the bat for Birmingham Phoenix.
Lauren Bell (19-8-17-3), Tilly Corteen-Coleman (20-10-16-2) and Sophie Devine (20-9-23-2) were impressive with the ball for the Southern Brave. Sophie Devine was awarded the Player of the Match for her impressive all-round contributions, scoring (27 off 25 balls) with the bat and returning with match figures (20-9-28-2) with the ball for her side.
I am Yash Tailor, and I believe work should be driven by passion. Therefore, after completing my Engineering, I chose to work in the Cricket industry, my passion. My goal is to reach a stage where I truly enjoy what I do and give my best to every task with energy and purpose.