Australian superstar Ellyse Perry starred with the bat and in the field as Birmingham Phoenix ended their 12-match losing streak to beat the Trent Rockets in The Hundred.
Perry fired 66 from just 34 deliveries as Phoenix posted 139-3, having won the toss and elected to bat, before taking a wicket and a catch as the Rockets fell just short in their run chase.
Nat Sciver-Brunt’s 59 from 37 deliveries wasn’t enough for the Rockets, who closed on 136-7 to fall three runs short and give Birmingham Phoenix their first victory since the 2022 edition of The Hundred.
Phoenix made a steady start as Sophie Devine and Sterre Kalis went along at a run a ball for an opening partnership of 32, which ended when Alana King trapped Devine LBW for 17.
Perry quickly upped the run rate alongside Kalis and raced to 41 from her first 20 balls, with the pair putting on a 102-run stand from just 60 deliveries for the second wicket.
Ellyse Perry top-scored for the Birmingham Phoenix in their first win of The Hundred campaign
Amy Jones arrived at the crease with Phoenix on 134 with four balls to go and was run out on the final delivery, leaving Kalis unbeaten on 48 and setting the Rockets 140 to win their second victory of the season.
Perry remained in the action in the field, taking the opening wicket of Scrivens (six) and then catching Bryony Smith with a fantastic running effort at long-on to reduce the Rockets to 58-2.
Sciver-Brunt came to the wicket in fine form and reached her sixth half-century in The Hundred, off just 33 balls, only for her to be dismissed three balls after Charis Pavely (2-20) bowled Ash Gardener.
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Hannah Baker takes a big tumble from a running catch to claim a wicket in Birmingham Phoenix’s match against Trent Rockets.
Rockets saw their hopes boosted when Heather Graham hit four late boundaries – including a huge six off the 98th ball – to leave them needing seven from two, before Wraith was run out on the penultimate delivery going for the second run.
Graham needing a final-ball maximum for victory but could only make two, taking her to a valiant unbeaten 30 from 12 balls, leaving Phoenix celebrating their first in 13 attempts and giving them their first points of the season.
Player of the match – Ellyse Perry
“I’m chuffed for the girls,” Perry said. “We played with a lot of spirit today, played really positively, and it is nice to get over the line in a tight one at the end.
“It took us a while to get going, but once you were in there was a breeze, so it was easy to find the pockets in the ground and build a bit of momentum with the bat. The total felt defendable, but they chased well, Heather at the end there was really unlucky not to bring it home for them, so to hold our nerve at the end was awesome.
“I’m stoked for the girls; it is a great group and they play with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. You can’t worry about last season, this is a different squad, but it is something that has been spoken about around the group by other people. Hopefully people stop talking about that [12 in a row] now.”
The Hundred Live
Thursday 1st August 11:00am
What’s next?
There’s two double-headers of action in The Hundred on Thursday, with all four matches live on Sky Sports and also streamed – for free – on the Sky Sports Golf YouTube channel.
London Spirit Women look for their third successive win when they host Welsh Fire women, live from 11.30am, before the London Spirit men chase their first win of the campaign against the same opposition at 3pm.
Southern Brave Women face the Manchester Original Women at 3pm, with the same two teams then going head to head in the men’s edition from 6.30pm. Stream The Hundred and more sport with NOW.