Southern Brave women march on as men pick up crucial first win

Southern Brave men's team (128-8) are alive in The Hundred after a desperate scramble to defend their total against Birmingham Phoenix (116-9) in front of a crowd that flipped from subdued to raucous as Jofra Archer, Chris Jordan and Luke Wood clinched it at the death. 

Meanwhile, in the battle of top versus bottom in the women's competition, Southern Brave (140-3) maintained their spotless record to make it four from four, defeating a forlorn Birmingham Phoenix (116-5) outfit that remains rooted to the foot of the table, still looking for their first win of the tournament.

Women’s perfect start continues

Molineux picked up two wickets to make it seven for the tournament, working in cahoots with fellow left-arm spinner Tilly Courteen-Coleman to exert the squeeze, and not even a brace of long-handled boundaries from her opposite number Ellyse Perry could get the Phoenix close, as they finished 24 runs shy. 

Earlier in the piece, Lizelle Lee was explosive in the powerplay, pushing on to a 23-ball 43, including the only two sixes of the match, while Bouchier, who made a 31-ball 45, played punchily in her slipstream, and Jemimah Rodrigues added great momentum at the death, striking three fours from the final five to tilt the scales to the Brave.

Meerkat Match Hero Lizelle Lee said: “I think it was better to bat against the new ball out there. It came off the wicket a bit easier and as soon as the ball got a bit softer, it became harder to play. So, I think our batters did really well at the end there to get us up to a good score, and I think that’s what set us apart.

“Our bowlers are not getting enough credit. They’ve bowled extremely well, they get us out of everything. Everyone’s gelling pretty well and we seem to be able to get over the line in tough situations. Sophie Molineux as captain is such a calm presence on the field and I feel that is flowing into everybody, and it shows."

Men get off the mark

A first victory in four attempts keeps them in contention for the latter knockout stages and draws them level with the Phoenix, who will be asking themselves how they contrived to mismanage what looked at the halfway stage to be a routine run-chase.

After a cautious but solid start, Phoenix reaching 52-1 after 47, three quick wickets turned the contest on its head. 

Will Smeed was caught at long-on trying to launch Wood into the bleachers. Then Rehan Ahmed, immediately after scooping Jordan for six, miscued a slog into the outer, where Archer made good ground from long-on. 

The skipper Donovan Ferreira then came and went, clean bowled by Archer hoicking across the line to leave the Phoenix at 65-4, still needing 64 from 39 balls. 

A brief rebuild between Laurie Evans and Mitchell Owen was ended by Marcus Stoinis, who induced a nick from Evans, and when Adil Rashid accounted for Owen, bowled off the under-edge, the Phoenix had lost five wickets in 30 balls.

Stoinis was the difference-maker in both innings, bringing energy to the Brave’s stuttering innings, depositing Scott Currie for back-to-back sixes – the second carrying 98 metres – and punching his way to 34 before falling to one of the catches of the tournament from Ferreira at short cover. And then with the ball, he bowled 10 balls in a row for just three runs to stymie the Phoenix’s progress, building the pressure that brought the collapse. 

With 15 balls to go the game was still alive, but a stunning final five from Archer, conceding just two runs, stretched the equation to 29 from the last 10. Sean Dickson planted Jordan for a brace of sixes, but Wood held his nerve to ice the game, claiming two wickets, allied to a cool run out from Rashid, as the Brave somehow got home by 12 runs. 

Up next

Both sides travel to face London Spirit on Saturday in their next fixture with The Hundred moving into its last four matches of the initial phase. 

This year, The Hundred Helix was introduced, a trophy for the franchise with the best record across both teams, with Southern Brave currently sitting at the top of that table two points ahead of second place.