S Poddar
An unbeaten 78 off 46 balls from Hayley Matthews propelled Welsh Fire to an astonishing victory against London Spirit. The victory today for Welsh Fire is its highest-ever chase in The Hundred and it ends London Spirit’s unbeaten run this season.
For the Welsh Fire, Matthews powered them to a total that hitherto remains her highest in The Hundred when they gunned down the target of 150 set by the Spirit. Freya Davies bagged two key wickets of Meg Lanning and Heather Knight as she put breaks on Spirit’s run rate, but strong late shows for Spirit from Danni Gibson and Deepti Sharma weren’t enough to take them over the line.
The closest this game got to a nervy moment was when Matthews was shelled behind the boundary when she had made 36. But still she hit 11 fours and two sixes, top-scoring in an innings where her mates fell all around her. Tammy Beaumont was dismissed early; then wickets tumbled, but Matthews continued to find the boundary regularly to keep Welsh Fire in the chase.
And the boundaries kept coming from Matthews’s bat, as she lofted Deepti Sharma down the ground for one over long-on, which left the Fire requiring just ten to win off nine balls. Her Player of the Match title was well deserved.
Reflecting on her display, the 23-year-old said she was proud to represent her country of Wales and pleased with her side’s game plan. Meanwhile, Wu boldly praised teammate Matthews as being fearless and leading from the front with a match-winning innings.
Laura Woolvardt takes Manchester Originals to victory
Woolvardt remained not out on 78 as Manchester Originals won, beating defending champions Southern Brave by six wickets. She played with a lot of assurance with the bat as the Originals kept their nerve to run down the target, getting their runs with just two balls to spare.
Woolvardt and Eve Jones contributed 39 runs each to ensure that the total of Brave, 136 for five was chased down. Brave was heavily dependent on Danni Wyatt, and 61 runs that she made before her fall was important in the context of the match. Sophie Ecclestone took 2 wickets and kept on breaking important partnerships in the chase.
Even though Wyatt and Maia Bouchier had got them off to a brisk start, Brave could not hold the momentum after losing key wickets. Woolvardt, along with Jones, proceeded to build the innings systematically. Woolvardt struck 11 boundaries, whereas Jones kept the run-rate of the team going, and the batter managed the score till her fall.
Ecclestone’s brief, yet incisive, six ensured that the Originals kept matters on the boil. Woolvardt played a patient but forceful game to be deservedly voted Player of the Match and really showing adaptiveness to get her team over the line.
