The Analysis: Sophia Dunkley lays foundations for Southern Brave's excellent attack

NICK FRIEND looks back on the key moments from Brave's victory over Oval Invincibles at the Ageas Bowl

Finding a way without Mandhana

A dead rubber but, at the same time, an interesting afternoon for Southern Brave, for whom this was an opportunity to cope without Smriti Mandhana. The Indian opener has returned home, to be replaced by Ireland’s Gaby Lewis.

It would be wrong to expect her to fill the void of Mandhana, who made two fifties in seven games as one of the world’s leading players.

But there is an onus now on the remainder of the batting line-up. That shouldn’t be a problem: Danni Wyatt and Sophia Dunkley are two of seven batters in the women’s competition to have passed 200 runs for the season, while Stafanie Taylor has been dismissed just three times in eight matches.

Having already qualified for the knockout stages, Lewis fell cheaply and Wyatt struck 20 but scored at a run a ball. Dunkley reached fifty off 37 balls, while Taylor – at one stage 14 off 21 balls – caught up at the end to finish on 23.

It is hardly a secret by now, but Dunkley has been the player of England’s summer: high-class against India through June and July, before dragging Brave to a competitive total in conditions that never allowed the hosts to break free. She has made 131 runs since her last dismissal. She admitted it was “not the prettiest” of her several match-winning efforts this year, though for that reason alone it might just have been among her best. A grind that will stand her in good stead going forward, the kind of contribution that international players should be making in tournaments like this.

Ultimately, they made it to 115 for 3: a strange score – neither one thing nor another. Maia Bouchier only faced one ball and the lower-order hitting power of Anya Shrubsole and Fi Morris went unused. It was hard not to feel that they might have gone harder, but it is another sign of Dunkley’s growing maturity as a middle-order batter – alongside the experience of Taylor – that she was able to navigate her team towards a score that eventually proved ample.

^{Southern Brave defended their total with ease}

Ismail leads the pace race

In the midst of an otherwise placid innings, Shabnim Ismail was hurtling in, breathing life into an oft-lifeless pitch. At 78mph, she bowled the quickest delivery of the tournament – three miles per hour quicker than Kate Cross, Issy Wong, Liz Russell and Marizanne Kapp.

Wong has set her sights on becoming the women’s game’s 80mph gun, but Ismail remains the one to catch.

🔔 Ding ding ding! We have a new high score! 🔔

Shabnim Ismail has clocked a 78 mph delivery! 😮#TheHundred pic.twitter.com/FW1DpNcorm

— The Hundred (@thehundred) August 16, 2021

Streetwise Shrubsole marshals her troops

Rob Key wasn’t wrong on commentary: what a curious game of cricket. So at ease did Dunkley look that everyone else appeared pedestrian by comparison.

Halfway through proceedings, when Dunkley strolled across the Ageas Bowl outfield at the end of her side’s innings, Oval Invincibles were heavy favourites, even on a slow, low surface that offered plenty of assistance for the spinners.

But in truth, they never came close. Only Kapp and Dane van Niekerk reached double figures in a feeble batting effort that will have disappointed the visitors. From 64 for 2, they collapsed to 80 for 9 in the space of 23 balls. More remarkably, they lost 5 for 1 in eight balls.

Yet again, Amanda-Jade Wellington was the terroriser-in-chief. The leg-spinner ended with figures of 4 for 12 – she has been a tremendous signing for Brave, whose win nudges them straight into the final. Lauren Bell, meanwhile, claimed three wickets – two of which arrived in successive balls; she must be creeping closer to an England call-up.

Eoin Morgan, a welcome addition in the pundit’s chair, was mightily impressed with her side. “Exceptional,” was how the World Cup-winning captain described the all-round bowling effort. He wasn’t wrong. If there is a better side in the women’s competition than Charlotte Edwards’, they haven’t shown themselves yet.