Womens Hundred Ledds Sunrisers v London Spirit at Headingley August 4th

Neil Whitaker reports

SUNRISERS  Leeds won their second match in this year’s Hundred and their first at Headingley as they beat London Spirit by six wickets with two balls to spare.

Seeing the Sunrisers home was Annabell Sutherland who hit an unbeaten 37 and shared in a fourth wicket partnership of 48 off 38 balls with skipper Dani Gibson.  The pair came  together after  they had lost three wickets for two runs in six balls after Phoebie  Litchfield cut Charle Dean to the square leg boundary.

First to go was Litchfield when she pulled Katie George to Marizanne Kapp on the mid-wicket boundary. She was followed five balls later by Lauren Winfield-Hill who clipped  Nadine De Klerk her legs to Charis Paveley  on the square leg boundary. Bryony Smith was plumb leg before trying to work Dean to leg but missed the ball.

Gibson smashed a full toss from De Klerk to the long-off boundary. A couple of balls later she  cut De Klerk to Trudie  Johnson on the point boundary who didn’t take the catch but threw the ball back into play  and saved two runs.  Gibson got too far under a drive off and the ball looped to Grace Harris on the long off boundary.

With 14 needed off eight balls Deepti Sharma lofted George to Harris on the long-off boundary.  Jess Jonassen threw the kitchen sink at George and got a four to bring the target down to six off five balls. Jonassen found a gap and drove De Klerk to the cover boundary and it was time to start the car.

Harris top scored for  the London Spirit with 51 but her innings was interrupted by a 34  minute  rain delay, when play restarted the Spirit lost three wickets for  14 runs in 14 balls and their innings never recovered. 

She drove Jonaseen for a straight six into the Howard stand.  In the next set she thrashed Cassidy McCarthy to the extra cover boundary. Then she late cut McCarthy to the third man boundary.

She hit consecutive fours off  Hannah Baker: the first she swept to the square leg boundary and drove the next to the extra cover boundary.  She beautifully drove Sutherland straight to the long-off boundary.   Three ball after the resumption she had to reach for a widish ball from Baker and couldn’t get enough power in the shot and found McCarthy on the long-on boundary.

Put into bat, London Spirit had a slice  of luck when Amy Jones was hit on her front pad with the first ball of the match by McCarthy and  was given not out so the Sunrisers reversed it and the replay showed it was missing.

On 16 Jones gave a hard return chance to Gibson which either stuck or didn’t. After driving Gibson to the extra cover boundary she got a leading edge to the next ball and was caught by Kate Cross at mid-off.

Four balls after Harris’ dismissal Kelly reversed  swept Baker and was leg before. De Klerk took a couple of paces down the pitch to Sharma and drove her but found Sutherland coming in from the long-on boundary.

After a couple of big swings at Sutherland, Kapp was bowled by a straight ball.  Dean was run out going for a second.  George got too far under her drive off Sharma and found on  the long-on boundary.

Deandra Dottin pulled Sutherland to the square leg boundary the first aggressive shot by the London Spirit for ages.

Sharma and Baker both took two wickets in their 20 balls and Baker’s cost three run more. 

In their chase Smith drove  the second ball from Kapp to Hannah Rainey at point but the bull burst through her hands. Two balls later Smith was dropped by Paveley at short mid wicket. Aiming to capitalise on  those two chances Smith blasted Johnson to the long-off boundary.

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