The Hundred 2023: Northern Superchargers claim comfortable win over Welsh Fire
- Published
Nicholas takes brilliant one-handed catch off her own bowling
The Hundred women's competition, Headingley |
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Northern Superchargers 144-4 (100 balls): Kelly 69* (46); Dunkley 1-14 |
Welsh Fire 128-8 (100 balls): Harris 37 (20); Cross 2-19 |
Northern Superchargers won by 16 runs |
Northern Superchargers beat Welsh Fire by 16 runs to give themselves an outside chance of qualifying directly for The Hundred final.
Superchargers could finish top of the table on net run-rate if Southern Brave lose heavily to Manchester Originals on Wednesday.
Fire slipped to 0-2 and 14-3 in pursuit of Superchargers' 144-4 at Headginley.
Laura Harris and Sophia Dunkley's stand of 62 led a recovery, but late wickets meant they finished on 128-8.
Superchargers' total was set up by opener Marie Kelly's unbeaten 69 from 46 balls and Phoebe Litchfield's entertaining 40 from 26 balls.
Fire then lost captain Tammy Beaumont and star all-rounder Hayley Matthews before a run had been scored.
Fire had already cemented their place in the top three but the defeat confirmed their place in the eliminator, which takes place at The Oval on Saturday 26 August.
The final takes place a day later at Lord's.
What else do you need to know?
Kelly is the first women's player in The Hundred to bat the entire duration of an innings.
Litchfield became the competition's leading run-scorer with 266 runs in eight innings. She overtook Fire's Beaumont, who has 253.
Both teams put in poor performances in the field. Fire dropped opener Jemimah Rodrigues on nought and Litchfield on five, while Superchargers dropped Sarah Bryce on one and Dunkley was dropped three times on her way to 29.
Harris' counter-attacking 37 from 20 balls included two sixes and gave Fire hope in their chase as they reached 76-3, needing 69 from 46 balls to win. But Superchargers crucially dismissed her and Dunkley in the space of five balls to fight back.
England seamer Kate Cross took the big wicket of Harris and finished with figures of 2-19. Grace Ballinger and Alice Davidson-Richards also took two wickets each.
'I was waiting for an innings like that' - what they said
Match hero, Northern Superchargers batter Marie Kelly: "Having a consistent role in this team has been great. I feel fully backed, I know I can go out there and play freely and I was just waiting for an innings like that to come together.
"My job is to go out and get us off to a good start in the powerplay, back my options, be nice and aggressive and try to put the bowlers off - I thoroughly love that role.
"I absolutely love batting at Headingley. Every time I see that wicket it excites me as a batter and you know you can trust your strong shots."