Birmingham Phoenix v Welsh Fire women, Edgbaston
Fire beat Phoenix by 36 runs to pick up first win of 2025 season
Result also eliminates Phoenix from contention
Fire 150-3 (100 balls): Dunkley 53 (43), Jonassen 44 (17); Schutt 2-11
Phoenix 114-9 (100 balls): Perry 55 (43); Ismail 3-16
Josh Cobb
Former Northants batter on Test Match Special
Good running from these two. It will be interesting to see what Hayley Matthews does here as Hannah Baker is throwing the ball up and getting a little bit of purchase. With mid-on in the circle, it is a tempting option.
Good running indeed! Hayley Matthews' bat popped up briefly but was back down in time before Amy Jones demolished the stumps.
It was a good throw from Megan Schutt in the deep but Matthews committed to her second run early.
Good running! Or is it?
They're having a second look at a possible run-out against Hayley Matthews, who put in a full-length dive to complete her second run.
Josh Cobb
Former Northants batter on Test Match Special
Ellyse Perry has been expensive. She has to bowl straight with the field that she has but has erred on the side of too straight and that has brought in those wides.
Make that 24 runs conceded off 10 deliveries for Ellyse Perry, with Hayley Matthews and Sophia Dunkley trading singles off the final two balls of the set.
At the halfway mark, Welsh Fire are 66-1.
Ellyse Perry responds with a bouncer, which Sophia Dunkley misses, but it's called wide. Oops and another wide.
Third time lucky. Welsh Fire come through for a leg bye.
Perry has conceded 22 runs off eight deliveries.
Josh Cobb
Former Northants batter on Test Match Special
A great shot with mid-on in the ring. Sophia Dunkley got momentum onto the ball and it was a lovely stroke on the bat.
Matt Floyd
Test Match Special commentator on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra
What a shot from Sophia Dunkley. That would have been six on any ground!
Well, well, well, Sophia Dunkley is enjoying herself against Ellyse Perry today!
She gets on strike and pumps the Australian for a huge six over mid-off. Oooooof.
Ellyse Perry - who conceded three boundaries to Sophia Dunkley in her first set - is back with ball in hand.
Josh Cobb
Former Northants batter on Test Match Special
I was really impressed with Sophia Dunkley's straight drives early on. She is well set to kick on now.
Birmingham Phoenix are missing Em Arlott today and they are also missing a few spin options. Hannah Baker will have to be one to step up.
Ellyse Perry turns to the spin of Emma Lamb and the all-rounder restricts Welsh Fire to four singles.
Phoenix call for a strategic time-out. They need to remove these two quickly if they are to avoid a tricky chase. Remember, Phoenix have to win this match to keep their (slim) top-three hopes alive.
Ashwanth R Kavuluri
CricViz analyst
Hayley Matthews' highest score in this year's Hundred is 26. The last time she failed to score at least one fifty in a competition was eight competitions ago, in WBBL 2023 (minimum 5 matches played in the competition).
Josh Cobb
Former Northants batter on Test Match Special
Welsh Fire have a platform here. Their average score has been in the nineties so far so they look on par to go past that.
Hopefully they can have a big finish; Edgbaston has been the best place for batting this year.
Sophia Dunkley is playing very nicely. She spots a gap through point and threads the penultimate delivery through it for four.
Hannah Baker's first set yields seven runs and 50 comes up for Welsh Fire.
Josh Cobb
Former Northants batter on Test Match Special
This is a very good top three - Sophia Dunkley, Tammy Beaumont, Hayley Matthews - but to have two of those players underperforming is not a good thing.
Welsh Fire's batting has been below par on the whole.
Matt Floyd
Test Match Special commentator on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra
You feel that with Hayley Matthews there is a big score around the corner. She had a really good T20 series against England and she should have made a fifty by this point.
Sophia Dunkley and Hayley Matthews are keen to dash for every run they can.
Dunkley plays the final ball of the set back to bowler Mary Taylor, who misfields and allows to opener to dart through for a single.
Hayley Matthews has her first boundary, evading both the fielder at gully and a diving body on the rope. The latter looked like she was diving in slow motion.
Ffion Wynne
BBC Sport cricket writer on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra
The Welsh Fire team has been disappointing considering they did so well to maintain their core side - Hayley Matthews, Shabnim Ismail, and Tammy Beaumont.
It seems as though all those important players have been out of nick at the same time.
| Batter | Runs | Balls | Dots | 4s | 6s | Minutes | Strike Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dunkley,bowled Baker Dunkley, bowled Baker | 53 | 43 | 16 | 6 | 1 | 51 | 123.26 |
Beaumont,bowled Schutt Beaumont, bowled Schutt | 2 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 33.33 |
Matthews,not out Matthews, not out | 34 | 33 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 55 | 103.03 |
Jonassen,caught Kelly, bowled Schutt Jonassen, caught Kelly, bowled Schutt | 44 | 17 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 18 | 258.82 |
Elwiss,not out Elwiss, not out | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 100.00 |
Extras, no balls 0, wides 6, byes 5, leg byes 5, total 16 Extras, no balls 0, wides 6, byes 5, leg byes 5, total 16 | |||||||
Total,150 for 3 100 balls Total,150 for 3 100 balls |
| Bowler | Balls | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Dots | No balls | Wides | 4s | 6s | Economy rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Schutt | 20 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.30 |
Perry | 10 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 14.40 |
Taylor | 20 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 10.20 |
Voll | 20 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.10 |
Baker | 20 | 0 | 39 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 11.70 |
Lamb | 10 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9.00 |
| Fall of wicket | Batter |
|---|---|
28 for 1 (21 balls) | Beaumont |
99 for 2 (72 balls) | Dunkley |
149 for 3 (98 balls) | Jonassen |
| Batter | Runs | Balls | Dots | 4s | 6s | Minutes | Strike Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Voll,bowled Jonassen Voll, bowled Jonassen | 29 | 18 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 33 | 161.11 |
Lamb,bowled Ismail Lamb, bowled Ismail | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.00 |
Kelly,leg before wicket, bowled Ismail Kelly, leg before wicket, bowled Ismail | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 |
Perry,caught Elwiss, bowled Ismail Perry, caught Elwiss, bowled Ismail | 55 | 43 | 17 | 7 | 1 | 61 | 127.91 |
Jones,bowled Matthews Jones, bowled Matthews | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 |
Kalis,caught Ismail, bowled Jonassen Kalis, caught Ismail, bowled Jonassen | 15 | 16 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 93.75 |
Lister,caught Ismail, bowled Jonassen Lister, caught Ismail, bowled Jonassen | 4 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 57.14 |
Schutt,caught Dunkley, bowled Matthews Schutt, caught Dunkley, bowled Matthews | 3 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 60.00 |
Taylor,bowled Matthews Taylor, bowled Matthews | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 66.67 |
Ellis,not out Ellis, not out | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 100.00 |
Baker,not out Baker, not out | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 100.00 |
Extras, no balls 0, wides 2, byes 0, leg byes 1, total 3 Extras, no balls 0, wides 2, byes 0, leg byes 1, total 3 | |||||||
Total,114 for 9 100 balls Total,114 for 9 100 balls |
| Bowler | Balls | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Dots | No balls | Wides | 4s | 6s | Economy rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ismail | 20 | 1 | 16 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4.80 |
Davies | 20 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5.70 |
Jonassen | 20 | 1 | 24 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7.20 |
Matthews | 20 | 0 | 21 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6.30 |
Levick | 10 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7.80 |
Davis | 10 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 12.00 |
| Fall of wicket | Batter |
|---|---|
5 for 1 (4 balls) | Lamb |
5 for 2 (6 balls) | Kelly |
61 for 3 (45 balls) | Voll |
61 for 4 (46 balls) | Jones |
91 for 5 (70 balls) | Kalis |
100 for 6 (82 balls) | Lister |
108 for 7 (92 balls) | Perry |
111 for 8 (96 balls) | Schutt |
112 for 9 (98 balls) | Taylor |
