Kathryn Bryce and Sophie Ecclestone impressed as Manchester Originals cruised to a 10-wicket victory over Trent Rockets at Trent Bridge and moved third in the table.
Having taken 2-19 to help restrict the hosts to 111-7, Bryce steered the chase with an unbeaten 61 from 45 deliveries, receiving strong support from Australian star Beth Mooney, who made 47 not out from 37 balls.
Their record opening stand secured victory with 18 balls to spare, paving the way for the Originals to complete just the third 10-wicket win in history of The Hundred women’s competition, with 18 balls to spare.
Earlier, the Rockets had made a bright start after being put into bat, Natasha Wraith stroking 17 from 14 before a canny piece of bowling from Ecclestone (2-12) saw her stumped by Mooney. Bryony Smith was also in punchy form, cruising to 17 from 12 only to have her innings ended by a peach of a leg-cutter from Bryce.
Nat Sciver-Brunt (34 from 26) played nicely to leave the Rockets well placed at 78-2, but Ecclestone produced a moment of brilliance to swing the game in the Originals’ favour, ripping a sharp-turning off-break past the England skipper’s outside edge before Mooney effected another superb stumping.
The hosts lost their way thereafter, the impressive Lauren Filer (3-23) taking the key wicket of Ash Gardner as the Rockets mustered just 33 runs from their final 37 deliveries, stuttering to a below-par total and ultimately falling to a fourth defeat in five matches.
“It’s nice to take a few wickets and be able to contribute,” said Ecclestone. “I feel like we bowled so well as a group. We identified the pitch was quite slow and we bowled so well to keep them to that total.
“Mooney actually said we just needed one partnership and she stuck to her guns and did it, fair play to those two. We need to keep winning as much as possible and hopefully get into the Eliminator.”
How do matches work?
One hundred balls a side, the team with the most runs wins. It is as simple as that.Five bowlers can bowl up to 20 balls in an innings, including five or 10 in a row.The traditional six-ball overs seen in other forms of cricket are not used in The Hundred, with 10 balls bowled before a change of ends.The powerplay is for the first 25 balls of an innings, with only two fielders allowed outside the 30-yard circle.A 25-ball-a-side game is the minimum length that can be played in the event of wet weather.
What’s next?
The Hundred continues live on Sky Sports Cricket on Wednesday with a double header in both the men’s and women’s competitions as Welsh Fire take on Southern Brave, while London Spirit play the Northern Superchargers.at Lord’s.
Trent Rockets are next in action away at the Oval Invincibles on Thursday, while Manchester Originals are not back in action until Sunday against Birmingham Phoenix,
Watch every match across the women’s and men’s competitions live on Sky Sports from August 5-31.
