The Analysis: Sarah Taylor masterclass and The Hundred goes missing

NICK HOWSON looks at the stand-out moments of the clash between Oval Invincibles and Welsh Fire, which saw the visitors prevail

DRS process

The speed at which DRS decisions have been made has been part of the positives emanating from the opening rounds of The Hundred.

The TV umpires have not laboured by forensically analysing footage, rocking relays back and forth and looking for something that isn't there.

When we're trying to get through 100 balls in 65 minutes (we haven't got there yet) the game can ill-afford unnecessary hold-ups.

That said, TV official Paul Baldwin almost dismissed Hayley Matthews prematurely after Oval Invincibles went up for a review.

Baldwin was ready to go to ball-tracking (with the ball looking likely to go on and hit the stumps) before going back to Snicko, which highlighted a bottom edge. He's initially been satisfied the ball had missed the bat.

The whole episode highlighted the pressure that is on everyone to get on with the game. Baldwin doesn't deserve particular criticism for missing this stage of the process (he'll have been directed to get a move on) and after all he got it right.

Are we worthy of this?

"I've been missing that girl and I wanted to get back to that. I've become a more rounded, balanced person and that has helped me get that girl back. It has been a horrendous time but personally a good journey for me."

Sarah Taylor has tried to enjoy her batting since returning to the game this summer. But this Hundred campaign has provided very little to smile about.

Scores of 18 and 0 contributed to a poor start to the competition. She was even lacking behind the stumps against Manchester Originals.

But at The Oval, this was Taylor at her dreamy best. There were signs of that rustiness with some miss-hit reverse sweeps, but she soon rediscovered "that girl".

After surviving being dropped off Mady Villers she produced two shots that won't be rivalled over the remaining weeks of the tournament.

First, she sent Alice Capsey to the boundary with a shot out of MS Dhoni's playbook with a hockey-like slap for four.

Three balls later and she repeated the trick, hitting through backward point with a flick around the corner. It was another delightful touch.

It provided the Welsh Fire innings with much-needed impetus, with the south London drizzle having made conditions to bat slightly treacherous with the ball slowing up and sliding on.

In the Invincibles chase, Taylor was at it again. The third ball was dropped at square leg by Nicole Harvey but she reacted quickly, sending the ball to the striker's end where the former England wicketkeeper completed a no-look run out of Georgia Adams.

Taylor admitted after play she actually missed the stumps at the first time of asking, but she had everyone fooled.

It was another epic execution of skill.

Just outrageous from Sarah Taylor 🔥#TheHundred pic.twitter.com/JHClXh6yLQ

— The Cricketer (@TheCricketerMag) August 2, 2021

Free hit tweak

When is a free hit, not a free hit? When you bowl two no-balls in a row.

What advantage is a batter getting if a bowler delivers successive illegal balls?

They already can't get out caught, lbw or bowled, so they have gained no advantage from the no-ball.

If a first free hit is followed by a legal ball, and another is delivered in the same set, then the batting side get two.

Why the same doesn't follow when the balls are back-to-back isn't entirely clear.

Bowlers could even use it as a tactic if they so wished. Though you do risk being removed from the attack a la Issy Wong.

Perhaps it could become a new Hundred innovation, though it is already a batters format as it is.

^{Katie George produced a fine catch to all-but secure victory for Welsh Fire}

The Hundred breaks

"We're really sorry for the temporary picture problems."

For a couple of minutes, The Hundred broke.

We lost the feed of the game for a couple of deliveries and when it returned, the all-important skyscrapers had disappeared too.

Such was the desire to keep viewers abreast of the match situation the camera even focused in on the big screens where the runs and balls remaining was shown.

Normal service was soon resumed, but temporarily things were all at sea.

😱 WHAT A CATCH! 😱

Take a bow, Katie George! That's a stunner! Diving forward in the deep to take it millimetres off the ground - Van Niekerk is gone!#TheHundred 💯

💻 YouTube 👉 https://t.co/mxWk6aSfsW
📺 SS The Hundred 👉 https://t.co/N5yEvBmzDs pic.twitter.com/Px5tas74hK

— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) August 2, 2021

On fire

Harvey George is a furniture company based in North Yorkshire. But on Monday afternoon, it was the combination that delivered victory for Welsh Fire at The Kia Oval.

Harvey bowled with real skill. She took pace off the ball and with boundaries hard to find (there wasn't a single six in the first 189 balls) it forced the Invincibles batters to throw their hands at the ball.

Lydia Greenway spoke astutely before play about power-hitting improving in women's cricket due to more "time on task", which in other words has been the increase in the number of professionals in the sport able to devote time to improving their skills.

That said, it didn't offer much consolation to players on both sides here.

Having to generate your own power is a tireless task and in the chase, it did for Capsey, the 16-year-old who has proven to be one of the most powerful hitters in the competition, who recklessly swung across the line and was bowled, and several of her teammates struggled too.

The effort Dane van Niekerk had to put in to get the ball off the square from another pace-off delivery from Harvey told as she threw everything at one pull shot.

Credit to the South African, she got plenty on it but it took a wonderful catch to deny her a boundary. Katie George came in off the rope and dived forwards onto the rough outfield and took a remarkable low catch just inches off the turf.

The 22-year-old took a second grab at the third time of asking to dismiss Villiers, spilling the first effort, juggling the ball and then taking it at the third attempt.

When it is your day, it's your day.

Subscribe to The Cricketer for exclusive content every day: The inside track on England's Test tour with George Dobell in Pakistan, award-winning analysis, breaking news and interviews and the only place for in-depth county coverage all year round. Plus: An ad-free app experience at your fingertips. Subscribe to thecricketer.com today for just £1.