Lee, Bouchier shine as Brave make it four in four

Southern Brave consolidated their top spot with another dominant win - by 24 runs - over the win-less Birmingham Phoenix to move to 16 points.

Openers Lizelle Lee and Maia Bouchier made brisk contributions at the top, and Jemimah Rodrigues providedthe finishing touches to propelBrave to 140, which they defended comfortably despite Davina Perrin's fifty to make itfour from four.

Chasing 141 after a goof fielding effort that kept Brave to a manageable 140, Phoenix got off to a solid start with 50 from 37 balls. Openers Tammy Beaumont and Perrin got going, and even though Perrin did the bulk of scoring, the pair put on a brisk 73-run partnership in 56 balls and everything seemed under control.

However, at the strategic timeout, when the equation was 54 needed off 30, the chase lost steam.Alice Capsey skewed a Lauren Bell slower ball to extra cover off her ninth delivery. Then Perrin, who had enjoyed as many as three reprieves on her way to a 40-ball half-century, miscued one as she lofted Sarah Glenn's leg-break to Bouchier at long-on. That wicket nearly killed the chase.

Brave skipper Sophie Molineux picked up two wickets in quick succession to exert the squeeze. Not even Ellyse Perry's late boundaries could get Phoenix back on track, as they went down by 24 runs still rooted to the bottom of the points table.

Earlier in the day, it was Lee's explosive hand in the powerplay that led the way for Brave. The South African chipped in a 43 in just 28 balls, seven boundaries and two sixes included. Bouchier, on the other hand, made a 31-ball 45, hitting eight boundaries as she put on 68 runs for the opening stand and then another 29 off just 18 with Laura Wolvaardt for the second wicket.

Rodrigues took her time to get going. She was at 8 off 9 balls at one point, but added 20 runs in the next nine deliveries she faced - striking three fours from the final five - to take the side to what eventually proved a winning total

Brief scores: Southern Brave 140/3 in 100 balls (Maia Bouchier 45, Lizelle Lee 43, Jemimah Rodrigues 28*; Alana King 1-23, Alice Capsey 1-23) beat Birmingham Phoenix 116/5 in 100 balls (Davina Perrin 52, Tammy Beaumont 22; Sophie Molineux 2-24) by 24 runs