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The Timeline: Northern Superchargers Women v Oval Invincibles Women

Northern Superchargers produced a resilient display to defeat Oval Invincibles... as it happened

Elizabeth Botcherby | 31/07/2021 at 17:05

Scorecard

A tight bowling performance helped Northern Superchargers defend a sub-par knock of 109 for 8 at Emerald Headingley and inflict a first defeat on Oval Invincibles.

The Superchargers struggled to get going with the bat, with only Alice Davidson-Richards (42 off 30) making any inroads against the well-disciplined quartet of Alice Capsey, Tash Farrant, Mady Villiers and Grace Gibbs.

However, the Invincibles never looked comfortable in their chase and despite some late fireworks from Dane van Niekerk, fell five runs short of victory.

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Here’s how it happened…

Ball 6: Rodrigues to the boundary! First four of the day unsurprisingly comes from the bat of Jemimah Rodrigues, expertly directing Tash Farrant’s delivery to the cover boundary.

Ball 13: Rodrigues OUT! Well, that wasn’t in the script. Rodrigues attempts to cut a fuller delivery from Mady Villiers and can only edge the ball through to Sarah Bryce and the Indian opener is out after a successful review. Rodrigues departs for 14 (three fours). 16-1

Ball 14: Wolvaardt off the mark! Laura Wolvaardt is straight into the game with a four, carving a textbook cover drive to the boundary.

Ball 25: Advantage Invincibles! At the end of the powerplay, Oval Invincibles will be the happier of the two sides having removed Rodrigues. Northern Superchargers are 25 for 1 with Lauren Winfield-Hill (4) and Wolvaardt (7) in the middle.

Ball 30: Winfield-Hill OUT! It just gets worse for Superchargers as captain Winfield-Hill picks out a running Villiers at deep midwicket. 28-2

Ball 36: FOUR! A welcome four for Superchargers - their first since ball 14. Once again, it’s from the bat of Wolvaardt, who somehow finds a gap through to the cover boundary despite four fielders camping on the 30-yard line.

Ball 46: Calamity in the field! Fran Wilson misjudges a bouncing ball and can only help the ball over the boundary for four. Alice Davidson-Richards is happy, Danielle Gregory (bowling) is not.

Ball 58: Wolvaardt OUT! Brought back into the attack, Alice Capsey makes the desired impact, getting Wolvaardt caught behind. The South African departs for 27. 66-3

Ball 60: Heath OUT! Full credit to Dane van Niekerk for making that bowling change. Bess Heath departs for a two-ball duck, caught and bowled by Capsey. 66-4

Ball 63: Four for Kimmence! That will ease the pressure on the Superchargers batters, a fortuitous inside edge sneaking down to the boundary.

Ball 66: Kimmence OUT! Spoke too soon. First ball after the strategic time out, Laura Kimmence holes out to Capsey at point as Grace Gibbs picks up her first wicket of the day. 73-5

Ball 75: Smith OUT! As the Chuckle Brothers would say 'oh dear, oh dear.' Linsey Smith attempts a reverse sweep, fails to pull it off and is bowled by Villiers. 78-6

Ball 81: FOUR! Another piece of chaotic boundary fielding sees one player sliding for the ball and another vaulting her now-prone body. End result is a welcome four for Kalea Moore. Is a triple-figure score on for Superchargers?

Ball 84: FOUR more! The fightback is on, and the fans are loving it. Davidson-Richards with the boundary.

Ball 89: 100 up! A four down to short fine leg from Davidson-Richards takes Superchargers into triple figures. ADR has 37 runs from 24 balls – how crucial will her resilient innings prove?

Ball 97: Davidson-Richards OUT! She chanced her luck on ball 96, spooning the ball high in the air and just out of the reach of a charging Bryce. She attempts to go big again but picks out Eva Gray on the boundary to depart for a fine 42 off 30 balls. 107-7

Ball 99: Moore OUT! This time it’s Gibbs patrolling the deep midwicket boundary and she has all the time in the world to dismiss Moore with a routine catch. 108-8

Northern Superchargers finish their innings with a score of 109 for 8, lower than they would have wanted – and possibly expected – but a fine recovery in the circumstances. A fairly routine chase on the cards for Invincibles, wouldn’t you think?

Ball 1: FOUR for Georgia Adams! No messing about from the Oval Invincibles opener who picks off a short delivery from Liz Russell with ease.

Ball 7: Capsey dropped! You cannot afford to drop Capsey and yet Bess Heath, with the ball coming down her throat at mid-on, has spilled an easy chance. How costly will this prove to be?

Ball 19: FOUR! Another boundary for Adams following two fives of tidy powerplay bowling from Davidson-Richards and Smith.

Ball 22: Capsey OUT! Off the previous ball, Capsey swatted a cool shot over mid-off for four. But ADR didn’t have to wait long for her revenge as the teenager sent a shot ballooning over to point where it was taken by Phoebe Graham. Somewhere in the field, Heath breathes a sigh of relief. 20-1

Ball 25: Too close to call! At the end of the powerplay, Oval Invincibles are 22 for 1, three runs behind Superchargers at the same stage and Capsey out for eight.

Ball 34: Boundaries for Adams! Back-to-back fours from Adams and there’s not many people who do that to Katie Levick. The first is lifted over mid-off, the second a well-placed sweep to bisect the fielders at deep-midwicket and deeps square leg.

Ball 47: Adams OUT! Levick makes the breakthrough, removing Adams for 26 as the opener picks out Kimmence at long-on. 45-2

Ball 64: Wilson OUT! Perhaps this chase isn't going to be quite so routine... Fran Wilson falls victim to Smith after holing out to mid-off. 65-3

Ball 70: van Niekerk DROPPED! Caught and bowled opportunity for Davidson-Richards goes begging. She juggled the ball but couldn't hold on and the Invincibles captain survives.

Ball 75: van Niekerk FOUR! A first boundary in 18 balls for Invincibles and it comes from the bat of the captain. I wonder how ADR is feeling about her missed chance...

Ball 90: Down to the wire! Heading into the final 10 balls, Oval Invincibles require 23 runs - can they do it?

Ball 91: FOUR! van Niekerk with a tidy whack straight down the ground - 19 off 9.

Ball 92: FOUR! Another boundary from the captain. 15 off 8.

Ball 93: FOUR! DANE VAN NIEKERK STOP IT! This time she goes over point. 11 off 7 (which soon becomes 10 off 5 after Smith regains her composure with her final two balls of the match).

Ball 99: Bryce OUT! Headingley erupts as Davidson-Richards has Bryce caught at long-on by Heath for 29. Six needed off the final ball! 104-4

Ball 100: SUPERCHARGERS WIN! Villiers can only score a single! What a performance from Alice Davidson-Richards!

Hero of the match, Alice Davidson-Richards, was understandably elated after the match, commenting: "That was a hell of a win from the team. Everyone pitched in at some point. We hung in there as long as possible, and it paid off.

"We always thought we had a chance with that total, knowing it was quite a hard wicket to bat on. We squeezed really well. It’s been a not too shabby start for us, except for the rain on Wednesday [at Old Trafford]. We can’t complain."

Oval Invincibles' Tash Farrant, meanwhile, praised her side's bowling performance but felt they needed to be more explosive with the bat.

"We’re very disappointed. We were brilliant in the first half, in the field. We would have taken that score every single time," she said. "With the batting, we just got behind the rate. It was quite a slow wicket. The batters said it was quite hard to get in on. We just needed someone to go a bit earlier.

"It was bittersweet to see my team-mate (South East Stars) Alice do really well. That should have been an easy win for us."

Northern Superchargers: 109 runs off 100 balls (13 fours, 0 sixes)

Oval Invincibles: 105 runs off 100 balls (12 fours, 0 sixes)

Northern Superchargers win!

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