Evelyn Jones helps Phoenix pip Superchargers as Lauren Winfield-Hill's innings goes in vain

The Hundred as Birmingham Phoenix and Evelyn Jones found themselves at the right end of the result while Northern Superchargers' skipper Lauren Winfield-Hill left to lick the wounds as her innings went in vain with her side comng up 14 runs short in Leeds on Tuesday (August 17).  It looked like Superchargers were in control of the chase until Winfield-Hill was at the crease but once Evelyn's stunner on the boundary sent her back to the pavilion, they couldn't find enough big shots to take them through to the Eliminator. Phoenix are now primly poised to take the place against Oval Invincibles with only huge win from London Spirit can displace from the number three position in the table.

Chasing 148 for a place in the eliminator, Superchargers’ skipper Winfield-Hill came out swinging on a good batting pitch. She started with lofting Issy Wong over mid-off for a boundary before swatting Emily Arlott for couple of fours in the second set. She then climbed into Kirstie Gordon with three boundaries – one over the bowlers head, a skipped down drive through mid-off and a sweep – to take the score to 29 off the first 15 balls.

Although Superchargers lost in-form Jemima Rodrigues in the next set, Winfield-Hill kept going while Laura Wolvaardt joined the fun with some trademark shots. The South Africa batter added two fours against Abtaha Maqsood while Winfield-Hill took on Wong and brought up her first fifty of the competition with a scorching drive off Arlott from just 29 balls.

With a few more boundaries and some indifferent fielding reducing the target to 51 from the last 40 balls, Phoenix came back into the game when Evelyn pulled off a stunner at thirdman to dismiss the set Winfield-Hill for 64 off 38 balls.

Only one boundary came from the next 20 balls and the match started slipping away from Superchargers as they lost the big wickets of Wolvaardt and Laura Kimmince in consecutive deliveries. First Maqsood got Wolvaardt caught at the boundary before Arlott castled Kimmince with a perfect yorker.

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From there needing 37 from 19 balls, it was too steep a hill to climb for the lower order batters of Superchargers and none of them could find any boundaries as Phoenix bowlers kept it tight. By the time Holly Armitage found a boundary in the 97th ball, the game was far gone and the Northern side eventually finished on 133 for six  - 14 runs short of the target - at the end of their innings.

Put into bat, Phoenix had the most dramatic starts with batters going for the shots right from the first ball. Shafali Verma opend up with a couple of fours before Alice Davidson-Richards pulled off a stunner at short mid-wicket off Kalea Moore. But there was no respite for Superchargers as Amy Jones took it up from where Verma let off and hit five boundaries in the first seven deliveries she faced.

Even though Amy added only one more four to her innings before she was dismissed by Linsey Smith for 24 off 11, the Phoenix skipper set the tone for their batting taking the score to 42 for two at the end of the power play.

Post Amy’s dismissal, Evelyn and Katie Mack took their time and were on 27 off 25 and nine off 11 respectively at the half way stage with the score reading 74 for two. Evelyn found her rhythm once she smashed Elizabeth Russel straight down the ground for a six before hitting her through backward-point.

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In the next set, Katie Levick struck back for Superchargers with the wicket of Mack as the batter was trapped in front of the wicket.

However, Evelyn continued her good form and found a good company in Erin Burns as she added two more boundaries off Davidson-Richards on the way to her second fifty of the tournament from 39 balls. The southpaw then launched Armitage over long-on before repeating the feat against Levick through wide long-on. Levick finally provided the breakthrough as she had Evelyn caught on the boundary by Wolvaardt. Phoenix eventually finished their innings on 147 for four from their 100 balls.

For Superchargers, Levick finished with figures of two for 23 while Smith and Moore picked up one wicket each.

Brief Scores: Birmingham Phoenix 147/4 in 100 balls (Evelyn Jones 64, Erin Burns 28*; Katie Levick 2/23) beat Northern Superchargers 133/6 in 100 balls (Lauren Winfield-Hill 64, Laura Wolvaardt 32; Issy Wong 2/23) by 14 runs. POTM: Evelyn Jones