Welsh Fire women cruised to the top of the table in The Hundred with a convincing win against Southern Brave at Sophia Gardens, but the men were thrashed in Cardiff.
The women won by seven wickets in the first part of a double-header but then a James Vince-inspired Brave eased to a 42-run success.
Hayley Matthews took 3-16 to see the winless Brave bowled out for 84, a total that Fire had few alarms knocking off just three wickets down.
The Welsh side were into their work straight away when Freya Davies dismissed Smriti Mandhana with the first ball of the game, the second time Davies has taken a wicket with the first ball of the innings in this year’s competition.
Southern Brave lost wickets at regular intervals throughout, with none of the batters getting to grips with seam or spin, and justifying Tammy Beaumont’s decision to field first at the toss.
Georgia Adams top-scored with 17, while Matthews starred with the ball. The West Indian all-rounder was supported by a strong fielding display throughout, with excellent catches from Phoebe Franklin and Beaumont to take the wickets of Maia Bouchier and Danni Wyatt respectively.
Fire paced their reply, despite losing Sophia Dunkley for a golden duck, with Beaumont and Bryce steadily progressing through the run chase.
When Beaumont was bowled by Lauren Cheatle – who was the pick of the Brave bowlers and went for just eight runs from her 20 balls – it was left to Jess Jonassen to take Fire to the finish line, their fourth win in this year’s edition of The Hundred, which sees them sitting at the top of the table.
Matthews said: “I just tried to pitch it in some really good areas – I think there was a bit in the pitch for me as a spinner. So I tried to keep my lines pretty straight and I managed to get some wickets doing that.
“There was a bit of turn and bounce in the pitch, so I felt the length was really important and I tried to keep the stumps in play for as long as possible.
“We’ve been playing really well as a team and having everyone contribute. We obviously had a good start, getting the wicket from the first ball and we just went from there.”
VINCE VICTORIOUS
Southern Brave’s James Vince bats during The Hundred men’s match at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff (Image: Nick Potts)
Brave’s men made it three from four with Vince striking a match-winning 73 from 50 balls in the first innings set Fire 140 to win.
The home side never threatened to reach the target – leaving Brave ending the night on top of the table in the men’s competition.
Welsh Fire had won the toss and elected to field first, but the Brave batters worked well in partnerships with Alex Davies, Leus du Plooy and Kieron Pollard all supporting the in-form Vince’s superb 73 not out, which included seven fours and three sixes.
A Chris Jordan cameo in the final 10 balls featured a 98-metre six, before he fell to the last ball, skying David Payne and being well caught by Willey.
Haris Rauf (2-22) and Matt Henry (1-20) were the standout bowlers for Welsh Fire, with the home side hoping conditions under the lights might favour a big chase.
In reply though, Luke Wells and Jonny Bairstow struggled to get opening bowlers Akeal Hossein and Craig Overton away, with just 29 scored from the first 30 balls and the bowlers making life difficult with significant swing.
Both opening batters then fell in quick succession as the Brave took control, with Tymal Mills (4-16), Danny Briggs (3-14) and Chris Jordan (2-19) running through the Welsh Fire batting order to seal a very comfortable victory.
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