Last year’s Hundred runners-up Northern Superchargers slipped to a 20-run defeat to Trent Rockets at Headingley with a wicket from visiting spinner Alana King earning comparisons to Shane Warne’s ‘Ball of the Century’.
Superchargers crumbled to 64-8 and were bowled out for 103 chasing 124 to win, with Australian seam bowler Heather Graham taking 3-13 from 15 balls and her compatriot, leg-spinner King, bagging 2-17 from 20.
King’s first ball of the match was a stunning leg-break that struck Bess Heath’s (0) off stump, with the dismissal not dissimilar to how the late, great Warne removed England’s Mike Gatting in the 1993 Ashes Test at Emirates Old Trafford.
Phoebe Litchfield joined Heath in falling for a duck, with only Hollie Armitage (14) and Annabel Sutherland (15) making double figures among Superchargers’ top eight batters.
Lucy Higham (26) and Linsey Smith (13) put on 33 for the ninth wicket but Rockets ran out convincing winners.
Rockets had earlier been held to 123-5 on a dry pitch, with Australia all-rounder Sutherland taking 3-14 for Superchargers and England spinner Smith 2-23 – Smith dismissing Ash Gardner (10) and Graham (0) off successive deliveries to reduce Rockets to 87-4 from 63 balls.
But Nat Sciver-Brunt ground her way to an unbeaten 36 from 34 balls, backing up the fluent 32 off 22 deliveries 20-year-old opener Grace Scrivens had struck up top following her move from London Spirit during the off-season.
Nat Sciver-Brunt top-scored for Rockets with 36 not out from 34 balls
Player of the Match – Alana King
“[That first delivery to bowl Heath] felt really nice out of the hand. It’s a leg-spinner’s dream, so I’ll take that first pill.
“It was nice to have a bit of turn and grip in the wicket. We saw that the pitch did a lot in the first innings, so we just had to keep our processes really simple.
“I love to have a pitch with a little bit of turn and I was happy to play my part.”
What’s next?
The Hundred continues on Saturday as London Spirit take on Birmingham Phoenix at Lord’s.
The women’s match (2.55pm on air, 3pm first ball) is live on Sky Sports Mix and via a free live stream on skysports.com, the Sky Sports app and on the Sky Sports Cricket YouTube channel.
The men’s game starts at 6.30pm with build-up beginning at 6pm on Sky Sports Mix. There will also be coverage on Sky Sports Cricket from around 6.30pm, once day three of the England vs West Indies Test match has finished.
Sky Sports will show all 68 games in The Hundred live, while you can also watch selected matches via free streams on Sky Sports’ digital platforms and the Sky Sports Cricket YouTube channel.