The Hundred: Welsh Fire finally claim first win as Northern Superchargers suffer almighty batting collapse
After four defeats in four for the women's side and six in six for the men, Welsh Fire finally claimed a first win in The Hundred as the home side beat Northern Superchargers by 11 runs in Cardiff; the visitors suffered a huge batting collapse, losing four wickets for six runs in 10 balls
Friday 26 August 2022 18:58, UK
Welsh Fire finally claimed a first win in The Hundred as the women's side beat Northern Superchargers by 11 runs after an almighty batting collapse by the visitors in Cardiff.
Story of the match
The Fire had not only lost their first four games in the women's tournament, but defeats too for the men had made it 10 in 10 for a sorry 2022 so far... but all that changed courtesy of a Nicola Carey-inspired victory on Friday night.
Chasing 124 to win, Australia's Alyssa Healy (4) and Bess Heath (1) fell cheaply to Claire Nicholas (2-17), but South Africa's Laura Wolvaardt (41 off 38) and skipper Hollie Armitage (40 off 38) appeared to have the Superchargers coasting towards their target as they shared in a 90-run stand for the third wicket.
But Wolvaardt, Heather Graham, Armitage and Alice Davidson-Richards all then departed within 10 deliveries of each other and with the finishing line in sight - Nicola Carey (3-17) claiming three of the four to fall as the Fire clinched a remarkable 11-run win.
- Scorecard: Welsh Fire vs Northern Superchargers
- The Hundred - latest standings | The Hundred - upcoming fixtures
Earlier, Fire captain Tammy Beaumont had herself failed with the bat, bowled by former England team-mate Jenny Gunn (2-20) for 10, but Sarah Bryce (36 off 30 balls) and Annabel Sutherland (31no off 22) batted nicely to see the hosts up to what proved ultimately to be a match-winning score - their cause helped by a pair of sixes in the final four balls from Sutherland and Lauren Filer (9no).
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What they said...
Welsh Fire captain, Tammy Beaumont: "I'm incredibly relieved. That was a proper team performance.
"When Wolvaardt and Armitage were going, I thought 'oh no, here we go again'. But once we got a few dot balls, we've lost games in that situation - it gets big, very quickly in a chase - and the girls were excellent.
"Nic Carey, cool as anything at the end - that's where you want your overseas players to stand up, at that time.
"I was actually really worried today that people might not come out [to the game] because of how Welsh Fire have done. It gets me quite emotional because at every game I've tried to speak to as many people as possible, and they have supported us so well.
"I just wanted to win it for them today. That is what I said at the beginning, let's do it for the little girls that we were when we were younger and for the little girls in the crowd that can become us in the future. It was great to do it for them today."
What's next?
Next up in The Hundred is a London derby double-header between London Spirit and Oval Invincibles at Lord's on Saturday.
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It has been a case of contrasting fortunes for the Spirit this year, with the women struggling near the foot of the table after one win from their first four, while the men are currently top of the lot and have the chance to cement a play-off spot with victory over their local rivals.
A win for the Invincibles women will all but secure the defending champions a play-off place too, while the men need a victory to stay in the hunt with one game to go.
The women are up first from 3pm, on Sky Sports Mix and via a live stream on skysports.com, the Sky Sports App and the Sky Sports Cricket YouTube channel. The men's fixture follows from 6.30pm on Sky Sports The Hundred.
Watch every match from The Hundred this summer live on Sky Sports.
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