The Hundred: Defending champions Oval Invincibles out of play-off contention; Trent Rockets stay in the hunt
Oval Invincibles cannot qualify for knockout stages of The Hundred after defeat to table toppers Southern Brave; Georgia Adams and Freya Kemp fire with the bat at The Ageas Bowl; Trent Rockets only side that can stop Welsh Fire claiming top-three finish in women's competition
Sunday 20 August 2023 07:41, UK
Oval Invincibles' hopes of a Hundred threepeat are over with the Londoners out of play-off contention in the women's competition following a seven-wicket defeat to table toppers Southern Brave.
Brave lost to Invincibles in the 2021 and 2022 finals but ensured their opponents would not get back to that stage this year after Georgia Adams (50no off 32) and Freya Kemp (41no off 21) secured a superb comeback win in captain Anya Shrubsole's last game at The Ageas Bowl before retirement.
Brave were 59-3 after 58 balls in a chase of 131, only for Adams and Kemp to share an unbroken stand of 73 from just 38 balls, with Kemp's six off Eva Gray clinching victory with four balls to spare.
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Invincibles needed to beat Brave to stay in with a slim chance of pipping Welsh Fire to the final spot in the top three, with Brave and Northern Superchargers having already qualified.
The defending champions posted 130-6 in Southampton as skipper Suzie Bates (55 off 46 balls) top-scored and Paige Scholfield (30 off 17) and Marizanne Kapp (27 off 22) also contributed once openers Lauren Winfield-Hill (2) and Alice Capsey (0) fell cheaply.
Invincibles dismissed Brave openers Smriti Mandhana (2) and Danni Wyatt (7) early on in the reply but were ultimately undone by Adams and Kemp.
Fire favourites for play-off spot but Rockets still in the mix
Fire require just one point from their final two games - against London Spirit on Sunday and then Superchargers on Tuesday - to qualify with Trent Rockets now the only side that can stop them.
Rockets must win their last match against Invincibles on Monday and hope Fire lose both of theirs to have a chance of overtaking the Cardiff-based outfit on net run-rate.
Rockets edged bottom side Birmingham Phoenix by three runs in Saturday's opening women's game to keep their play-off hopes alive as Bryony Smith impressed with bat and ball.
Smith struck 64 from 40 deliveries as Rockets posted 134-6 and then conceded only seven of the 11 runs Phoenix required from the final set of five balls at Trent Bridge.
Smith's fifty helped Rockets to 71-1 from 40 balls but they only managed 63-5 from the next 60 as Phoenix fast bowler Emily Arlott took three wickets - including bowling Nat Sciver-Brunt for 18 - and leg-spinner Katie Levick claimed two.
Amy Jones (46no off 30) kept Phoenix in the chase, slapping Alexa Stonehouse for three fours in a row in the penultimate set of five, while Sterre Kalis (7no) then drove Smith through the covers to cut the requirement to seven from four balls.
But Smith shipped only three runs from that point as Phoenix finished on 131-4 and slipped to a sixth defeat in seven games, with their sole point so far this season coming by dint of a washout in the reverse fixture against Rockets.
What's next?
There are four games in The Hundred on Sunday, with Manchester Originals vs Northern Superchargers at Emirates Old Trafford and Welsh Fire vs London Spirit in Cardiff.
Originals Women are out of play-off contention, while already-qualified Superchargers will be looking for a win to boost their hopes of topping the table and qualifying directly for the final. Fire Women, meanwhile, will secure a play-off spot at least with victory over Spirit.
In the men's competition, Originals, Superchargers, Fire and Spirit are all still in the play-off mix.
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