It was a Nat Sciver-Brunt show altogether that came to a fair and fairy end and won her the Player of the Match award for her unbeaten 81-run stand in The Hundred 2023, thus concluding the match with four horrendously massive maximums and gifting Rockets their first win of the season. And here is where Rockets registered a thundering win against London Spirit by 5 wickets and 14 balls remaining to account.
Trent Rockets won the toss and chose to bowl first thus inviting Danielle Gibson and Grace Harris to kick the London Spirits’ innings off. The first over was named after Harris who got her team the first boundary of the match on the very third ball and a second on the 10th ball. Gibson too contemplated her partner with two consecutive smashes, a first six of the fixture followed by a four.
But a good-going Harris finally had to make her way towards the pavilion much early on the 17th ball at just 10 off 7 balls. Gibson, from the other end, kept the run rate in control and they were 42 for the loss of 1 after 30 balls as Gibson concluded the same with two boundaries to Naomi Dattani.
Two more from her maestro and Gibson too left for the dugout at a wonderfully amassed 36 off 27 balls. With this wicket, things changed a bit as only singles could move their scoreboard and that too was left apart with Heather Knight’s dismissal by Alana King in The Hundred 2023.
Richa Ghosh and Amelia Kerr tried to pull things off as Ghosh came up with the first boundary after 37 balls and singles. Ghosh stood up higher on the 75th ball to bash down the ground with an extraordinary boundary. But her short but solid inning of 20 off 18 balls somewhat left the Spirits’ game on. And it was in the last minutes of the innings that Kerr concluded with three thrashing boundaries to set a target of 125 at a loss of 4 in The Hundred 2023.
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Lizelle Lee and Bryony Smith were out on the crease to kick the chase off but unfortunately Rockets could not have a good start as the former had to leave early on the fifth ball of the inning after hitting only four. But Smith and Nat Sciver-Brunt somewhat gave some confidence in the chase with a quick harness of a boundary each.
But on the 24th ball, Smith too had a bad time and met her LBW at just 7 off 8 balls. And it was a big jolt to them as Harmanpreet Kaur’s wicket was laid off so simply as she got out on an LBW too. Brunt and Fran Wilson pulled the scoreboard up with some great stance and attitude in their batting as they came up with a good show of fine rotation of strikes and a couple of timely boundaries.
Brunt was getting stronger with every passing ball with the way she was buckling up her shoes and stepping on the balls to get as much as she could with well-timed boundaries. The 61st and the 62nd ball was named after Brunt’s back-to-back powerful fours but that couldn’t pull much for Wilson as Lauren Filer got the breakthrough for her side bowling Wilson down.
Naomi Dattani too gave her wicket away in a very quick succession on the 69th ball. Although her wicket brought some pause to the run rate it was least known that the duo of Joanne Gardner and Nat Sciver-Brunt will finish things off such abruptly.
The 81st ball saw Gardner’s four and then a six on the very next ball, the first maximum of the innings that seems to have provided much power to Brunt to take the lead finishing the chase. And the match was pocketed swiftly by Brunt with four consecutive blasting and massive sixes staring the storm on the 84th ball and showing a depression to the same on the 87th ball to end the chase at 127 for the loss of 5 in The Hundred 2023.
The Hundred 2023: London Spirit vs Trent Rockets Brief scores
London Spirit 124/4 in 100 balls (Danielle Gibson 36, Melie Kerr 36*; Kirstie Gordon 2-19) lost to Trent Rockets 127/5 in 87 balls (Nat Sciver-Brunt 81*; Sarah Glenn 2-19) by five wickets.
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