Sixth straight win secures final berth for Trent Rockets

Trent Rockets confirmed a spot in the final and stretched their winning streak to six with a win over second-placed Southern Brave in the Women’s Hundred on Monday (August 10).

Rockets succumbed to 10/3, the lowest Powerplay score in Women’s Hundred history, but Ash Gardner first dug them out of the hole, and Nat Sciver-Brunt then put the finishing touches to take them over the line.

Finding company in Bess Heath, Gardner was compact with her strokeplay on the off-side, finding gaps that barely seemed to exist, and hit the lone six of the innings, a knock over deep mid-wicket off Charli Knott.

By the time Tilly Corteen-Coleman, top of the wickets charts, dismissed Gardner, they had recovered to 63/4 but were still operating at under run-a-ball. Sciver-Brunt, mysteriously absent at No.3, came as low as seven, but the demotion proved to be a masterstroke for a chase searching for impact.

Starting off with a reverse-sweep for four, she raced to 26 off her first 10, crunching three fours in a row off Issy Wong, as the pacer’s slower ones just did not land. The second of those was a brilliant slash over point, reading the length brilliantly, and punishing the two other full-tosses that came as freebies.

By that time, Rockets had ticked off the requirement for a top-two spot, even if the finish was still evenly poised.

Sciver-Brunt, on 31 off 18, was anticlimactically run out with one needed, trying to squeeze in an extra run. But the job had already been done. She later confirmed her move to seven was partly tactical, giving the other batters some more time, and partly a way to rest her body.

Earlier, Brave’s innings was top loaded unlike the Rockets, steadily building up to 52/1 after the first 50 balls. Opener Maia Bouchier settled in well after Lizelle Lee had played the early aggressor’s role, punching five fours.

But even as Bouchier and Laura Wolvaardt laid a firm base, there was a paucity of boundaries that would hurt them later. Georgia Adams got two in two, first trapping Bouchier as a reverse-sweep did not click and then cleaned up Jodie Grewcock with an arm-ball. Five balls later, Samantha Bates castled Phoebe Franklin. From 99/2, Brave had slipped to 102/5.

A couple of boundaries from Knott took them to 117, but it wasn’t enough against the table-toppers. Even with their dramatic top-order collapse, Rockets had sufficient depth to get home.

Brief scores: Southern Brave Women 117/5 in 100 balls (Maia Bouchier 38, Lizelle Lee 31; Georgia Adams 2-14, Georgia Elwiss 1-15) lost to Trent Rockets Women 118/7 in 98 balls (Ash Gardner 37, Nat Sciver-Brunt 32; Tilly Corteen-Coleman 2-16, Sarah Glenn 1-19) by three wickets.