Hayley Matthews continued her remarkable all-round form as Welsh Fire
progressed to The Hundred knockout stage with a nine-wicket victory over bottom side Southern Brave at Utilita Bowl.
The West Indian, opening the bowling, returned figures of 4-14 with her off-breaks before her unbeaten 35, along with Tammy Beaumont’s 59 from 40 balls, helped the visitors knock off their target of 104 with 26 deliveries to spare.
Fire are now in a strong position, due to their superior run-rate, to finish in top spot and qualify automatically for the final at Lord’s on Sunday.
Hayley Matthews helped Welsh Fire knock off their target of 104 with 26 deliveries to spare
After Beaumont won the toss, Matthews dismissed in-form Danni Wyatt, Maia Bouchier, Naomi Dattani and Kalea Moore to leave the Brave tottering at 47 for seven.
Chloe Tryon singlehandedly rescued the innings with an aggressive 55 off 38 balls, adding 52 with Rhianna Southby, as the Brave were all out for 103.
Beaumont and Sophia Dunkley put on 34 in the reply until the latter was dismissed by Lauren Bell.
Beaumont reached her half-century off just 31 balls and added 72 with Matthews to take their side to a comprehensive win.
Player of the match: Hayley Matthews
“Obviously the wickets are getting a bit tired, so I’ve been able to get some purchase out of it. I think just trying to hit good areas, and have the batters hitting where I want them to,” said Matthews.
“I think we’ve been really good (throughout the season). When you look at our line-up, we’ve got a lot of experience, and we’ve played on that really well.
“The bowlers have done a really good job at making sure we don’t have to chase too big of a total. I think it’s been a complete team performance and that’s where we’ve performed really well, everyone’s been chipping in and playing their role.”
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Maia Bouchier is caught after some superb fielding from Fire’s Phoebe Franklin
What’s next?
The Hundred continues on Thursday August 15 with a clash between Birmingham Phoenix and Manchester Originals.
You can watch the women’s match on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket from 2.30pm, first ball at 3pm, and the men’s match on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket from 6pm.
Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.