Birmingham Phoenix, led by skipper Ellyse Perry, were up against the Northern Superchargers, led by skipper Hollie Armitage, at Headingley, Leeds, in the 14th match of The Hundred (Women’s) 2025. After a promising start to their season in the ongoing 5th edition of the tournament, with an 11-run win over the Trent Rockets, they suffered back-to-back defeats (by 15 runs) against Southern Brave and (by 22 runs) against the Oval Invincibles.
The Superchargers, on the other hand, had just suffered their first defeat of the season, against Southern Brave (by 8 wickets) after consecutive victories (by 47 runs) against Welsh Fire and Trent Rockets (by 8 wickets) to start their season. Both sides retained the same 11 that took the field in their previous encounter.
On Thursday, the Trent Rockets registered their first victory of the ongoing 5th edition of the Women’s Hundred by defeating a high-flying London Spirit by 33 runs.
Spinners keep Birmingham Phoenix in check
Birmingham skipper Ellyse Perry won the toss and opted to bat first. Most of their batters got aggressive starts but were unable to convert their innings into a game-defining innings. However, a spirited unbeaten 57-run partnership for the 7th wicket between Sterre Kalis (24* off 30 balls) and Emily Arlott (32* off 25 balls) propelled them to a respectable total of 116/6 in their quota of 100 deliveries, after being reduced to 59/6 around the halfway mark in the innings.
Georgia Voll (17 off 9 balls), Marie Kelly (20 off 14 balls), and skipper Ellyse Perry (10 off 6 balls) chipped in with handy cameos with the bat for Birmingham Phoenix. Linsey Smith (20-8-18-2) and Lucy Higham (20-7-21-2) picked up a couple of wickets each with the ball for the Northern Superchargers. Kate Cross (20-5-23-0) and Annabel Sutherland (20-4-21-0) were impressive with the ball for their side.
Phoebe Litchfield’s unbeaten fifty guides Northern Superchargers home
Chasing a target of 117, the Northern Superchargers’ openers, Davina Perrin and Alice Davidson-Richards, got their side off to a brisk start with a 27-run opening partnership. Emily Arlott broke the opening stand by sending a dangerous Davina Perrin (14 off 14 balls) back to the pavilion in the powerplay to provide the first breakthrough for Birmingham.
Phoebe Litchfield joined Alice Davidson-Richards at the crease, and the duo stitched another crucial 32-run partnership for the 2nd wicket to take their side past the 50-run mark. Millie Taylor continued her impressive outing in the 5th edition of the Women’s Hundred by sending Alice Davidson-Richards (17 off 20 balls) back to the pavilion around the halfway mark into the innings to provide the 2nd breakthrough for her side.
Annabel Sutherland (20* off 13 balls) joined Phoebe Litchfield at the crease, and the duo switched on the accelerator to guide the Northern Superchargers over the line with an unbeaten 58-run partnership for the 3rd wicket to seal the game with 8 wickets in hand and 26 balls to spare. Phoebe Litchfield completed her counter-attacking half-century (59* off 28 balls), her 2nd half-century in the Women’s Hundred.
Emily Arlott (15-5-19-1) and Millie Taylor (19-5-26-1) were the only wicket-takers with the ball for Birmingham Phoenix. Megan Schutt (15-10-14-0) was impressive with the ball for her side.
Loves all things female cricket