The Hundred: Trent Rockets win again as Welsh Fire suffer dramatic collapse and Nat Sciver sparkles
Welsh Fire crumble from 75-2 to 102 all out in defeat to Trent Rockets; Rockets skipper Nat Sciver hits 54 in half-century stand with Katherine Brunt as side win third game in a row; good things come in threes for Rachel Priest, Heather Graham and Sammy-Jo Johnson
Friday 6 August 2021 20:39, UK
Welsh Fire wilted with the bat and then came up against a Nat Sciver special... here is how Trent Rockets made it three wins on the spin in The Hundred, despite a late wobble of their own...
STORY OF THE MATCH
It really was a horror end to the innings for Fire, who came crashing back down to earth after successive wins.
The hosts had begun to press on after a slow start - save for opener Bryony Smith's 16-ball 27 - and at 75-2 after 60 balls with Sarah Taylor (11) and Hayley Matthews (28) at the crease, a challenging total looked on.
However, they then lost eight wickets for 27 runs in 40 balls - including six for six at the death - in a dramatic end-of-innings collapse, featuring three stumpings for Rachel Priest, three wickets for Heather Graham and an excellent catch from Sciver as they were bowled out for 102.
Rockets lost Priest (8) and Sammy-Jo Johnson (0) early in the chase but skipper Sciver sparkled with 54 from 40 balls and shared a partnership of 66 from 59 balls with Katherine Brunt (20) as the visitors got home with eight balls to spare - albeit after a late wobble of four wickets for 16 runs, including the scalp of Sciver.
SUPERB SCIVER
The all-rounder really is a joy to watch in full flow. This match-sealing innings featured eight boundaries - leg-side, off-side and down the ground - and saw her reach fifty from 35 balls. If Sciver - whose lowest score in the tournament to date is 27 - maintains this form, Rockets are real contenders for the title, especially with their bowlers in fine fettle.
GOLDEN GRAHAM
Rockets seamer Johnson took three wickets to move onto a tournament-leading 12 but it was her fellow Australian Graham who made the key breakthroughs in Cardiff, dismissing Matthews and Taylor in the space of three balls to trigger Fire's dramatic slide.
Matthews, who had begun to accelerate after a tepid start, was well caught by Nancy Harman at short third, while Taylor was bowled on the reverse flick as 75-2 became 76-4 - and then a whole lot worse for Fire!
FIRE WELL AND TRULY STUMPED
Priest completed three stumpings during Fire's collapse. Firstly when Georgia Hennessy waltzed past Johnson's slower ball, then when a befuddled Katie George set off for a run not knowing that the ball was in Priest's glove, and finally when Alex Griffiths stepped out of her ground trying to clatter Graham through the off-side. The third stumping the best.
FLICK FAILS THIS TIME FOR TAYLOR
Taylor wowed everyone, including commentator Charles Dagnall, when she played a glorious reverse flick for four in Fire's win over Oval Invincibles on Monday but was castled attempting the same stroke on Friday afternoon.
Taylor would have been dismissed a few balls earlier if not for batting partner Matthews. Taylor had started walking off after being given out lbw to a nip-backer from Rockets skipper Sciver but Matthews called her back and told her to review the dismissal.
Taylor duly overturned the decision with the ball shown to be missing leg stump, but then failed to make the most of her reprieve, departing four balls later and two balls after Matthews as Fire subsided.
WHAT THEY SAID
Trent Rockets captain and Match Hero, Nat Sciver: "I would have loved to have been out there to finish it off. It makes it hard when you have to watch rather than being out there able to do something about it.
"For batters to come in under that pressure and get them over the line was really important. We did brilliantly in the bowling innings - we did a lot of things right in the field."
Welsh Fire's Piepa Cleary: "In the end we thought even an extra 20 runs would have left us a little bit more in the game as I thought we bowled well. We just need our middle order to fire with the bat."
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Hundred Live
The Hundred Live
A Saturday in Southampton as Southern Brave welcome Northern Superchargers to The Ageas Bowl.
Brave's table-topping women's team - whose run of four successive wins was snapped by Manchester Originals last time out - meet second-placed Superchargers from 3pm on Sky Sports Mix and the Sky Sports Cricket YouTube channel. Should Superchargers win that, then they will leapfrog their opponents and move to the summit.
The men's teams - who both sit on five points from as many games having won their last two completed matches after losing their first two - are then in action from 6.45pm on Sky Sports The Hundred and Sky Sports Mix.
Watch The Hundred live on Sky Sports between now and August 21.
