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The inaugural edition of The Hundred witnessed four matches on Saturday (July 24), two each in the men’s and the women’s editions of the competition. Trent Rockets took on Southern Brave at Trent Bridge and Northern Superchargers locked horns with Welsh Fire at Headingley in the women’s tournament. At the same venues, both the teams’ male versions also faced each other. Here’s a round-up for all four games.
Northern Superchargers women versus Welsh Fire women
The fourth match of The Hundred women’s 2021 was lit up by a superlative knock from young Indian batter Jemimah Rodrigues, who played an exceptional unbeaten knock of 92 off 43 balls in Northern Superchargers’ victory over Welsh Fire.
It was a stunning effort from Rodrigues as she dominated the opposition attack despite walking in a challenging situation with Superchargers precariously placed at 19/4, chasing a target of 131.
Instead of letting the pressure get to her, Rodrigues took the game on in her naturally freeflowing fashion and struck 17 runs and 1 six to singlehandedly propel the Superchargers to a win. Only one other Superchargers women batter – Alice Richards (23*) – reached the 20-run mark.
Bryony Smith (1/26) and Piepa Cleary (1/14) were the pick of the bowlers for Welsh Fire, but once Rodrigues got going, their attack had little to no answers on how to stop her.
Earlier in the game, fantastic 20-ball spells Linsey Smith (3/14), Katie Levick (2/16) and Elizabeth Russell (1/24) allowed Northern Superchargers women to restrict the Welsh Fire women batting unit to a manageable score of 130/8. Hayley Matthews top-scored for Welsh Fire with a 20-ball 30, but the rest of the batting unit couldn’t stand up to the task.
Brief scores: Welsh Fire 130/8 in 100 balls lost to Northern Superchargers 131/4 in 85 balls by 6 wickets.
Trent Rockets women versus Southern Brave women
In an earlier match played in the women’s competition, Southern Brave came out triumphant over Trent Rockets by 23 runs in Leeds. Having lost the toss and being asked to bat first, Southern Brave made a non-intimidating but competitive total of 133/5 off their 100-ball innings.
The Southern Brave were once staring down the barrel, having lost their first five wickets with only 57 runs on the board. But thanks to fighting knocks from Stafanie Taylor (45*) and skipper Anya Shrubsole (40*), they were able to make a recovery and reach past the 130-mark.
Sammy-Jo Johnson (1/13), opposition captain Natalie Sciver (2/33) and Sarah Glenn (1/32) shared the five wickets that had fallen before Taylor and Shrubsole resurrected the game.
In response, with the momentum having shifted base, the Trent Rockets batting unit was simply dismantled by the Southern Brave bowlers. Taking confidence from her batting effort, Shrubsole delivered a stand-out spell of 4/13, which was backed up commendably by the rest of the bowling unit. Shrubsole’s effort trounced Sciver’s in impact, as her counterpart played a lone ranger in the Southern Brave batting. Sciver made a 44 off 29 balls but her team could only manage a total of 110/7 from their 100 balls.
Brief scores: Southern Brave 133/5 in 100 balls beat Trent Rockets 110/7 in 100 balls by 23 runs.
Trent Rockets men versus Southern Brave men
Unlike their women’s team, the Southern Brave men’s side couldn’t quite stand their own facing the Trent Rockets men’s team, as they lost by nine wickets. Opting to bat first after losing the toss, Southern Brave could only manage to reach as far as the score of 126/8 off their 100 balls.
South African paceman Marchant de Lange was the stand-out bowler from either side in the game, as he bagged a five-fer to finish with exceptional figures of 5/20 off his 20 deliveries. De Lange’s fantastic bowling display meant that the Southern Brave innings never really gained any rhythm.
Ross Whiteley was the top scorer for the Brave with 39 off 29 balls. Only one other batsman – Alex Davis (21) – crossed the 20-run mark.
With De Lange and other bowlers having swung the game decisively in their favour in the first half, the Trent Rockets raced along during the run-chase after an early hiccup. The Rockets lost their opening batsman Alex Hales for a first-ball duck, but his partner D’Arcy Short (51*) and No.3 Dawid Malan (62*) batted brilliantly thereafter to ease past the modest Southern Brave total.
Brief scores: Southern Brave 126/8 in 100 balls lost to Trent Rockets 127/1 in 82 balls by 9 wickets.
Northern Superchargers men versus Welsh Fire men
The second game of the day in the men’s competition saw Welsh Fire make a winning start to their campaign against Northern Superchargers at Headingley. In a closely fought encounter, the visitors defeated the hosts by just 5 runs at the end.
Outstanding knocks from Jonny Bairstow (56) and Ben Duckett (41) took the team Welsh Fire to a daunting total of 173/4 in the first half, before an exceptional spell from Afghanistan wrist-spinner Qais Ahmad (4/13) helped keep the opposition at bay.
The Superchargers got off to a poor start in their chase, succumbing to 50/4. But then an excellent counter-attacking effort from Harry Brook (62 off 31 balls) allowed them to make a recovery and nearly threatened to take the Northern Superchargers to a win.
The Superchargers will rue the lack of support at the other end for Brooks, with a 25 from opening batsman Adam Lyth proving to be the second-highest individual score of the innings.
Brief scores: Welsh Fire 173/4 in 100 balls beat Northern Superchargers 168/7 in 100 balls.
