Sarah Bryce half century helps Welsh Fire to victory

Welsh Fire made it three wins from four in The Hundred as they beat Trent Rockets – who have now lost three in a row – in a controlled chase with two balls to spare.

Rockets made the worst possible start when Bryony Smith played on to the impressive Freya Davies from the first ball of the match.

And when Grace Scrivens went seventh ball, also for a duck, things were not looking good for a side badly in need of a win.

The Rockets’ powerful and dependable middle order of Nat Sciver-Brunt and Ash Gardner went some way to repairing the damage after Natalie Wrath had hit a 24-ball 28. They were 33 for two after the 25-ball powerplay and 60 for three at the halfway mark.

But when Sciver-Brunt overbalanced against Jess Jonassen and was stumped for a predictably excellent 37 from 26, Welsh Fire were right on top.

Gardner and Heather Graham were able to press the accelerator to an extent but a total of 130 seemed under par, with all of the Fire bowlers proving tricky to get away, Davies excellent up top and Aussie Jonassen picking up two wickets with her ever-accurate left-arm spin.

Early wickets

Fire also lost two early wickets, Sophia Dunkley brilliantly caught by Kirstie Gordon and Tammy Beaumont lbw to England colleague Sciver-Brunt to provoke a few jitters on the bench.

But West Indian superstar Hayley Matthews and Scottish keeper Sarah Bryce rebuilt, taking the score up to 49 from 33 balls before Sciver-Brunt repeated her lbw trick to get rid of the dangerous Matthews.

From there Jonassen and Bryce kept the required run-rate in check in, putting on 38, and Georgia Elwiss took over once Jonassen was out, adding a further 44 with the impressive Bryce, who ended up with an unbeaten 51 from 39 balls.

Bryce said: “We knew if we just built partnerships together, there were runs out there, with big pockets where you could run hard, and I think we did that really well. Jess is a great runner.

“They say winning is a habit and we have had some tight games when different people have stood up at different times and I think as a team that is really exciting.”