The Analysis: A textbook anchoring knock from Bryony Smith

ELIZABETH BOTCHERBY: Smith was 43 off 37 heading into the final 20 balls. She was dismissed a dozen deliveries later with 63 off 44 – a controlled explosion from the Trent Rockets opener

Following yesterday's men's Hundred clash between Birmingham Phoenix and Northern Superchargers, The Cricketer examined Liam Livingstone's dismissal.

The England allrounder walked out to bat with his 45 for 1 after 24 balls and chasing 170. Time was very much on his side and with Moeen Ali, Matthew Wade, Chris Benjamin and Benny Howell to come a successful chase was still on the cards.

However, rather than settle in and build towards a big knock, he tried to go from the off and was caught in the deep off his fourth delivery of the match, trying and failing to dispatch David Willey over Edgbaston's short boundary. And his shot selection proved to be costly, not just for himself (obviously, he was out) but also his team with three further wickets falling within 25 balls of his departure as his fellow batters succumbed to the pressure.

Unfortunately, in the age of power-hitting, the mindset of playing an anchoring role is dying a death, and while steady knocks aren't always appropriate (think the criticism levelled at Steve Smith's T20 strike rate or Emma Lamb's 41-ball 35 against Welsh Fire which nearly cost her side the win), Trent Rockets opener Bryony Smith played her innings to perfection against London Spirit.

The South East Stars skipper began slowly, scoring 11 runs off eight deliveries during the powerplay while the more innovative Elyse Villani hogged the strike and dominated with the bat.

^{Bryony Smith in action [David Rogers/Getty Images]}

Thanks to some miserly bowling from Grace Scrivens, she headed into the ninth set on 16 (14) before a trio of boundaries carried her to 29 off 23 at the halfway mark.

Her partner Nat Sciver, who was seven from eight at the same stage, then kicked on, racing into the 20s after pummelling Dani Gibson for three consecutive fours and after 80 balls, Smith was in real danger of being overtaken by her captain: Smith 43 off 37, Sciver 37 off 24.

A six off Gibson, struck over wide long on off the 82nd ball of the innings, changed everything. 14 runs came off her next five deliveries – including a six and a four off England international Charlie Dean – before she was removed by Amelia Kerr, caught by Gibson at deep midwicket, with eight deliveries remaining.

63 runs off 44 balls including eight fours and two sixes – not bad for a player who at one stage had 16 runs off 16 balls and was seriously lagging behind Sciver heading into the final 25 balls. She ended up contributing 50 off 34 to their second-wicket partnership.

You could argue she could have exploded into life earlier. However, by choosing her battles wisely, rotating the strike and accepting her role as junior partner, she enabled the more counter-attacking Villani and Sciver to play their natural games. Her knock was controlled, measured and steered Trent Rockets to their third-highest total ever in the competition (142).

"The more balls you face, the easier it becomes," she said after the match. Get that on a fridge magnet.

A note on London Spirit. The media are often reluctant to criticise women's cricket, perhaps deeming it unfair given the relative infancy of professionalisation. Fielding, in particular, often gets an easy ride with comments about how much the standard has improved sugar-coating simple errors.

However, when Trevor Griffin debriefs on this fixture, he's unlikely to take a similar position. London Spirit were sloppy in the field and it cost them.

Three which spring to mind all involved Sciver's batting – she got off the mark thanks to an overthrow, Alice Monaghan allowed the ball to roll through her legs to the boundary – "Where was your long barrier?" my university captain would have screamed, and wicketkeeper Beth Mooney and a fielder let her off the hook by leaving a high catch for each other. And there were several other instances which will have left Spirit's fielding coach unimpressed.

Three matches, three defeats for London Spirit and room for improvement.

Related Topics

• Trent Rockets v London Spirit AS IT HAPPENED
• The Analysis: A costly dismissal from Liam Livingstone