Welsh Fire cruise to top of Hundred Women table after beating Southern Brave

Welsh Fire cruised to the top of the table in The Hundred with a convincing seven-wicket win against Southern Brave at Sophia Gardens.

Hayley Matthews took three for 16 to see the winless Brave bowled out for 84, a total that the hosts had no problem passing, with a loss of just three wickets.

The Welsh side struck 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 Fire captain Tammy Beaumont’s decision to field first at the toss.

Georgia Adams top-scored with 17 for the visitors, 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 (nine) and Danni Wyatt (14) respectively.

The home side paced their reply, despite losing opener Sophia Dunkley for a golden duck, with Beaumont (34) and Sarah Bryce (20 not out) steadily progressing through the run chase.

Finish line

When Beaumont was bowled by Lauren Cheatle – who was the pick of the Brave bowlers and finished with two for eight – it was left to Jess Jonassen (13no) to take Fire to the finish line as they celebrated their fourth win in this year’s edition of The Hundred and topping the table.

Meerkat Match Hero Matthews was delighted to get off to a good start, saying: “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.”