In the 2nd game of the doubleheader on Wednesday, Welsh Fire, led by skipper Tammy Beaumont, were up against Manchester Originals, led by skipper Beth Mooney, at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, in the 12th match of the tournament. The runners-up of the 4th edition of the tournament, Welsh Fire, had a horrible start to their campaign in the 5th edition of the tournament, losing their first couple of games in their campaign so far.
The Manchester Originals, on the other hand, are having a mixed start to their campaign this season, losing their first game by 6 wickets, bouncing back to edge past Oval Invincibles by 2 runs in a thriller in their 2nd game, and then suffering yet another defeat by 3 wickets by London Spirit in their 3rd game of the season.
In the afternoon game, the Georgia Adams-led Southern Brave mastered the home conditions to thrash the Northern Superchargers to seal a dominating 8-wicket win at Southampton.
Manchester Originals Pacers Dismantle Welsh Fire Batting
Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, dished out yet another low-scoring thriller. The Manchester Originals bowlers came out breathing fire in each step as skipper Beth Mooney won the toss and opted to bowl first. The Welsh Fire batters were caught searching for answers in their own home conditions, courtesy of some impeccable spells from the visiting pacers.
Mahika Gaur reduced Welsh Fire to 2/2 in the first 8 deliveries of the innings, sending Sophia Dunkley and skipper Tammy Beaumont cheaply back to the pavilion, handing an early advantage to Manchester. Georgia Elwiss joined Hayley Matthews at the crease, and the duo stitched a much-needed 33-run partnership for the 3rd wicket.
Sophie Ecclestone broke the stand by sending Georgia Elwiss (11 off 18 balls) back to the pavilion to provide the 3rd breakthrough for her side, just around the halfway mark in the innings. A couple of tiny partnerships of 19 runs for the 4th wicket between Jess Jonassen and Hayley Matthews, followed by an 11-run stand for the 5th wicket between Jess Jonassen and wicket-keeper batter Sarah Bryce, took their total past the 50-run mark.
A dramatic collapse saw Welsh Fire lose their next four wickets for just 8 runs, and as a result, they were restricted to 73/9 in their quota of 100 deliveries. Hayley Matthews (22 off 33 balls) top-scored with the bat for Welsh Fire. Jess Jonassen (20 off 19 balls) also chipped in with vital contributions with the bat for her side.
Lauren Filer (20-14-8-3), Mahika Gaur (20-14-10-2), and Sophie Ecclestone (20-13-11-2) were exceptional with the ball for Manchester Originals. Kathryn Bryce (10-4-7-2) picked up a couple of crucial scalps in the final set of the innings.
Kathryn Bryce and Seren Smale Steady the Chase
Defending a low total of 75, Hayley Matthews got her side off to a dream start by sending the opposition skipper Beth Mooney back to the pavilion in the first seven balls of the run chase. Freya Davies struck again to remove Amelia Kerr (6 off 4 balls), reducing Manchester Originals to 13/2 inside the powerplay.
Seren Smale joined opening batter Kathryn Bryce at the crease, and the duo took their side almost on the brink of victory with a much-needed 57-run partnership for the 3rd wicket. With just 5 runs needed, the departure of a well-set Kathryn Bryce (45 off 41 balls) gave some hope to the Tammy Beaumont-led unit for a spirited fight-back.
However, Seren Smale (20* off 27 balls) kept her calm and sealed the run chase with an authoritative boundary to guide the Manchester Originals over the line with 7 wickets in hand and 19 balls to spare. Hayley Matthews (15-5-20-1), Freya Davies (15-10-8-1) and Jess Jonassen (15-9-10-1) were sensational with the ball for Welsh Fire, while Shabnim Ismail (16-9-16-0) played her part with the ball for her side.
Mahika Gaur was awarded the Player of the Match for her breath-taking (20-14-10-2) spell with the new ball for her side, playing a crucial role in setting up a dominant win for Manchester Originals.
I am Yash Tailor, and I believe work should be driven by passion. Therefore, after completing my Engineering, I chose to work in the Cricket industry, my passion. My goal is to reach a stage where I truly enjoy what I do and give my best to every task with energy and purpose.