Beth Mooney’s 97 in vain after Southern Brave chased down 155

Match 2 of the Hundred had London Spirits and Southern Braves lock horns at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton. London Spirits batting first got to a very good total of 154 which didn’t prove enough as an exciting chase from Southern Braves saw them home comfortably.

 

Danielle Wyatt and Smriti Mandhana opening the innings for Southern Brave. PC: Getty Images
Danielle Wyatt and Smriti Mandhana opening the innings for Southern Brave. PC: Getty Images

1st innings : London Spirit – 155/4 (100)

London spirits won the toss and opt to bat first. Beth Mooney with a boundary first ball got the scoring underway but it was a slow start as Grace Scrivens on the other end struggled to get going before her stay on 1(9) came to a close with Georgia Adams creating an instant impact. Amelia Kerr joined Beth Mooney, the pair initially ticked the scoring with 1s and 2s and then clicked off scoring boundaries from both ends in regular intervals. Beth Mooney with a boundary got to her fifty and then shifted gears. It was just after an expensive set of few balls that Amanda Jade Wellington struck Amelia Kerr on 37(27) to get an end to a fruitful 87-run partnership and then handed a golden duck to Danielle Gibson.

Amanda didn’t go on to have the hat-trick but had a wicket more dismissing Naomi Dattani on 3(6). Thankfully for Spirits, Beth Mooney remained in the middle till the very end and provided the team with a good finish which had them end their innings of 100 balls on 155 and agonizingly Beth Mooney having put on a brilliant show fell 3 short of a deserving ton remaining unbeaten on 97(55). Braves with the ball had Amanda Jade Wellington with 3 wickets to her name top of the chart and had both Anya Shrubsole and Freya Kemp remain wicketless having bowled economical spells.

2nd innings : Southern Braves – 159/4 (94)

Southern Braves in reply had Smriti Mandhana get the team’s scoring underway with a boundary. Danni Wyatt from the other end started off with a maximum and followed with a set of boundaries. It was an aggressive start upfront that Mandhana couldn’t carry on for long and was dismissed on 19(14) getting an end to a 62-run opening stand. Sophia Dunkley joined an attacking Danni Wyatt who simply wasn’t holding back and with a maximum got to her half-century but soon was run out by Amelia Kerr on 65(34). Kerr then impacted with the ball dismissing Maia Bouchier on a two-ball duck.

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Georgia Adams struck a maximum and opened doors for a Braves comeback and Sophia Dunkley too converted her slow start with a few boundaries. Gibson struck Georgia Adams on 18(15) and the Braves wanting quick runs had Freya Kemp walk out. Freya got her scoring underway with a maximum and finished the game in style with a maximum remaining unbeaten on 14(6) alongside Sophia on 34*(24) in 94 deliveries to register the win by 6 wickets. In a losing cause, Spirits had Danielle Gibson top the wickets chart with 2 to her name and also enjoy an economical outing alongside Megan Schutt who remained wicketless but in 20 deliveries conceded only 22 runs and delivered 9 dots.

The fearless start by the Braves opener in Smriti Mandhana and Danni Wyatt straightaway took the pressure off the rest of the team in getting the job done and that remains the key difference that impacted in Braves having the desired result with a win. While the Spirits’ batting had a lone warrior in Beth Mooney and some good support from Amelia Kerr which didn’t prove sufficient as the Braves bagged a confidence-boosting win.

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