The Hundred: Danni Wyatt stars as Brave finally clinch first win of 2024 against Oval Invincibles | Cricket News

Danni Wyatt led Southern Brave to a breakthrough triumph in a rain-affected seven-wicket win against Oval Invincibles.

Wyatt hit an unbeaten 46 from 37 balls, after twice being dropped, to guide the defending champions to a belated first win of this year’s competition with one ball to spare.

Lauren Cheatle and Tilly Corteen-Coleman, two weeks shy of her 17th birthday, claimed two wickets apiece as the hosts were restricted to 79-4.

Marizanne Kapp struck an unbeaten 26 from 17 balls for the hosts, whose innings was delayed for over an hour by rain.

A revised target of 83 was therefore set and Invincibles had their chances to claim the key wicket of Wyatt, who was dropped on four and 14 and moved top of the women’s run-scorers list with her match-winning knock.

Smriti Mandhana was run out cheaply and Maia Bouchier bowled by the impressive Ryana MacDonald-Gay, who claimed one for seven from a maximum 15 balls.

Wyatt went past Nat Sciver-Brunt’s 209 runs to become the leading runscorer in this year’s women’s competition before Sophia Smale claimed Freya Kemp for three.

The 19-year-old left-armer spinner was then tasked with bowling the final five and initially held her never to restrict Wyatt to a dot and a single, before a smart stop kept Chloe Tryon to a one. But Wyatt’s experience told as she made room to shovel her over leg for the winning boundary.

Cheatle earlier removed Chamari Athapaththu for a duck from the third ball, edging behind, and then had Alice Capsey caught in the deep after the England young gun had slapped her for six.

Rain stopped the game for over an hour with the home side 38-2 after 35 balls as the game was reduced to 65 balls. When play resumed, Corteen-Coleman had Invincibles skipper Lauren Winfield-Hill caught and the in-form Paige Scholfield caught in the deep from successive balls before Kapp added late firepower.

Earlier in the day, the Fire and Superchargers shared the points as their women’s match in The Hundred was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to a wet outfield at Cardiff.

After rain delayed the toss, the umpires conducted a midday pitch inspection and decided no play was possible to confirm the first washout of this year’s competition. The point apiece kept the pair in the top two positions in the table.

Player of the match – Danni Wyatt

“I was quite chill out there.

“I’m just buzzing to finally get a win. It’s been a tough campaign for us, but it happens in this short format so hopefully we can finish well.

“We just want to go out there and entertain and play at our best.

“The big moments just haven’t happened for us and that happens in this format. We’ve just got to keep going and keep staying positive.”

What’s next?

The Hundred continues on Friday with London Spirit hosting the Manchester Originals at Lord’s. The women’s game is due to start at 3pm followed by the men’s game at 6.30pm, with coverage live on Sky Sports Cricket from 2.30pm.

Watch every match of the men’s and women’s competitions in The Hundred live on Sky Sports. Also stream with NOW.