Manchester Originals defend 117 to beat Northern Superchargers

Deandra Dottin made an unbeaten 51 in an otherwise low score before the hosts held onto their catches to hold their nerve and beat their local rivals

ECB Media | 17/08/2025 at 14:38

Old Trafford: Manchester Originals 117-5, Northern Superchargers 112-7 - Manchester Originals won by five runs

An inspired performance in the field from Manchester Originals held off Northern Superchargers in one of the games of the Women's Hundred so far.

In front of a bumper crowd of 11,952 – a record for the women's competition at Emirates Old Trafford – the home side held their nerve and took their catches to clinch a potentially season-defining victory.

Defeat here to the high-flying Superchargers would have put the Originals' campaign in jeopardy; yet they finish the day on level points with their opponents, in joint second, and with the table wide open.

The catching was spectacular. The hinge point of the run-chase came from the 61st ball of the innings, when the in-form Australian southpaw Phoebe Litchfield, having just unfurled a stunning switch-hit for six, climbed into a conventional sweep against Kathryn Bryce. She got a lot of it, but Fi Morris, running full tilt not far from the boundary rope, leapt to pluck it out of the sky.

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^{Manchester Originals were excellent in the field to defend 117 (ECB Media)}

Morris then took another good tumbling catch to remove Annabel Sutherland, before Deandra Dottin flung herself full stretch at cover to grab a fingertip-catch to remove Bess Heath with just seven balls remaining. That gave Sophie Ecclestone her second wicket; the left-arm spinner, working in tandem with the brilliant wrist-spinner Amelia Kerr, who also claimed two wickets, applied a further clamp to the Superchargers' momentum, which had begun with an excellent new-ball spell from Mahika Gaur, who conceded just 10 runs from her 15 deliveries.

After Ecclestone, the final set of five was coolly delivered by Lauren Filer to spark huge celebrations.

Dottin, who registered just the second fifty of the Originals' tournament, was the start with the bat in the first innings. It was her intervention, coming to the crease with just 42 balls left in the innings after the openers Mooney and Bryce had both fallen for single-figure scores, that changed the course of the match and perhaps the Originals' season.

Her unbeaten 51 was vintage Dottin, especially lethal on the pull to anything short, and clumping three sixes in her 26-ball stay. The momentum generated from Dottin's knock carried over to the second innings, keeping the Original very much alive in this year's wide-open tournament.