Dunkley stars in Rockets' fourth straight win
In a low-scoring encounter in Manchester, WelshFire managed to brush aside Manchester Super Giants by three wickets to increase their chances of qualification. Even though Smriti Mandhana hit a six very early in the innings, the Super Giants were in a disarray with Orla Prendergast ripping into the Welsh Fire top order. Mandhana, who was watching a horror show at the other end, was sent packing as well close to the halfway mark.
Super Giants' hopes of a strong finish diminished as well with the likes of Maitlan Brown and Richa Ghosh struggling to get going. Combined, the duo managed only 21 runs having faced 37 deliveries. Thehorrorshow saw them post just 85 on the board but the hosts still made a meal of it when they stepped out to try and defend it.
A watchful start saw Welsh Fire crawl their way to 56/2, needing only 30 more runs for victory. But Sophie Ecclestone picked wickets off successive deliveries to derail the chase and cause some stutter in the opposition camp. Heather Graham then exhibited composure that was needed to get the job done as she guided her side home with 9 balls to spare.
Brief scores: Manchester Super Giants 85/9 in 100 balls (Orla Prendergast 4-18, Heather Graham 2-19) lost to Welsh Fire 88/7 in 91 balls (Heather Graham 16*; Sophie Ecclestone 3-14) by 3 wickets
A sparkling half-century from Sophia Dunkley, the tournament's leading run-scorer, powered Trent Rockets to their fourth successive victory in the Women's Hundred. In pursuit of 123, Dunkley saw Beth Mooney depart for an uncharacteristic 14-ball 7 but that didn't deter her from taking down the Birmingham Phoenix bowling attack.
With Nat Sciver-Brunt also batting in positive fashion, victory appeared to be a foregone conclusion for Rockets. There was a small hiccup when Sciver-Brunt and Ashleigh Gardner departed off successive deliveries but Dunkley continued to make merry and ended up hammering 65 off just 37 balls before her teammates finished the job with 16 balls to spare.
Earlier in the evening, Phoenix put on a shoddy display with the bat.While Davina Perrin got off to a brisk start and Tammy Beaumont looked in decent touch, both failed to kick on and post a substantial score. Alice Capsey and skipper Ellyse Perry made matters worse when they contributed just two runs before Anneric Dercksen and Emma Lamb revived the innings with a crucial stand. If not for Dercksen's departure at a critical juncture, Phoenix could have easily targeted over 130. Kim Garth went on a hunting spree at the end to finish with a four-fer as Phoenix ended up with 122/7 - a total that was never going to be safe.
Brief scores: Birmingham Phoenix 122/7 in 100 balls (Emma Lamb 45; Kim Garth 4-23) lost to Trent Rockets 124/4 in 84 balls (Sophia Dunkley 65, Nat Sciver-Brunt 24) by 6 wickets
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