Match 4 of the 2nd edition of the Hundred saw Birmingham Phoenix and Welsh Fire lock horns at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff. Birmingham Phoenix put in to bat got to a very impressive total and then with the ball topped their outing to defend the total and get their campaign underway with a win.
1st innings : Birmingham Phoenix – 161/5 (100)
Welsh Fire won the toss and opt to field first, Chaire Nicholas struck early having got one through Evelyn Jonas on 1(4). On the other end, Sophie Devine got a couple away to the fence before Alex Hartley struck Amy Jones on 2(5). Ellyse Perry walked in and straightaway got off the mark with a boundary. Set Sophie Devine decided to accelerate and hit Annabel Sutherland for 4 fours off 5 balls and then dispatched Hayley Matthews for a couple of sixes and a boundary but very soon on 48(25) off Katie George’s bowling was dismissed. Ellyse Perry then took charge of playing aggressive cricket and Sophie Molineux alongside her managed the odd boundaries and kept rotating the strike well. Birmingham edged past 100 and a very good 50-run stand was up between the two.
Ellyse Perry soon got to her 50* off 28 balls before being dismissed on 58(31) as Claire Nicholas put an end to the 82-run stand and Sutherland then handed a golden duck to Issy Wong. A few runs pushed Birmingham past 150 and a maximum from Emily Arlott powered Birmingham to close out on 161 with Sophie Molineux and her (Arlott) unbeaten on scores of 29(29) and 12(7) respectively. Welsh Fire had Claire Nicholas with a couple top the wickets chart and had Lauren Filer enjoy the best economical outing having conceded only 20 runs and delivered 9 dots off her 20 deliveries but remained wicketless.
2nd innings : Welsh Fire – 142/5 (100)
Welsh Fire in reply had a good start with Tammy Beaumont and Hayley Matthews striking well from both ends. Abtaha Maqsood off her second ball struck Hayley Matthews on 20(15) and put an end to the 47-run opening stand. Rachael Haynes alongside a set and striking Tammy Beaumont got going right from ball 1 taking on the charge but had a brief stay as she soon departed on 14(7). Annabel Sutherland and Tammy Beaumont shared a little partnership that had them start slow and then play a few strokes.
Tammy Beaumont after an aggressive start went quiet on an end and was next to depart on 39(34). Welsh Fire kept falling apart as Sutherland got a couple away and then walked back on 34(21). Fran Wilson’s impressive stay came to an end as she was run out by Perry on 20(12) and that was the end of Welsh Fires’ innings on 142 falling 19 short of the required. Birmingham had Georgia Elwiss with a couple top the wickets chart and had both Sophie Molineux and Issy Wong remain wicketless but gained very economical spells out of the two.
Match Winning performance from Sophie Devine’s Phoenix, Georgia Elwiss picked two wickets and an economical spell from Molineux ensured 19 Run victory in 4th Match of tournament. #CricketTwitter #TheHundred pic.twitter.com/MMR6r7aPt0
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) August 13, 2022
Welsh fire just had too many starts that no one succeeded to build on and the initiative for an anchor innings was missing which could have given them the licence to go big toward the back end. Whereas, Birmingham Phoenix had Ellyse Perry nearly till the end who provided the team with a very strong finish which had them in a winning position. An impressive win this for Birmingham Phoenix both with bat and ball to get their campaign underway.
Just her 1st Hundred game and a T20I after almost 10 months,
Ellyse Perry has bagged ‘Player of the Match’ Award
She scored 58 off 31 Balls ❤️#CricketTwitter #TheHundred pic.twitter.com/rE5pkwZhYI
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) August 13, 2022