Southern Brave, twice beaten finalists by Oval Invincibles, beat Northern Superchargers by 34 runs at Lord's, with England pair Danni Wyatt (59 off 38 balls) and Lauren Bell (3-21) particularly impressive
Monday 28 August 2023 03:20, UK
Southern Brave beat Northern Superchargers by 34 runs in the women's final of The Hundred at Lord's, making it third time lucky for captain Anya Shrubsole in her final game before retiring.
Brave, twice beaten by Oval Invincibles in the previous two Hundred finals, were utterly dominant this time round, with England pair Danni Wyatt and Lauren Bell particularly impressive.
Wyatt smashed nine boundaries and a six in a magnificent 59 from 38 balls that helped fire the Brave up to a score of 139-6 after Superchargers won the toss and bowled first.
Bell (3-21) then bowled Marie Kelly second ball - after nearly trapping her lbw with her first - as she reduced Superchargers to 13-2 early on in their reply.
Spinners Kalea Moore (3-15) and Chloe Tryon (2-28) then took over - Rhianna Southby playing her part with a hat-trick of stumpings - while England bowling great Shrubsole (1-18) claimed the wicket of Alice Davidson-Richards (3) in her final outing.
Maia Bouchier took a terrific driving catch to dismiss Georgia Wareham (8), while any faint remaining hopes of a Superchargers fightback fell with the departure of Jemimah Rodrigues (24). The Indian batter was their top-scorer but was badly starved of the strike, facing only 14 deliveries, before becoming the seventh wicket to fall.
Superchargers were ultimately bowled out with the 94th ball of their innings as Grace Ballinger was run out to cue the celebrations, led by an emotional Shrubsole.
Earlier, Wyatt starred with the bat to aid a Brave recovery after they lost two wickets for eight runs in their opening nine balls - Indian opener Smriti Mandhana falling second ball to Ballinger (1-28) after hitting four off the first.
Bouchier too departed for four, to England team-mate Kate Cross (3-21), but Wyatt found great support from Georgia Adams (27 off 28 balls) and Freya Kemp (31 off 17).
Tournament leading-scorer Wyatt - also named Player of the Match - eventually departed for 59 in rather unfortunate circumstances, run out by Cross after deflecting the ball at the non-striker's end into the bowler's hands.
Adams fell soon after, while Kemp perished in the deep with four balls to go in pursuit of late runs but, by that point, she'd more than played her part in lifting Brave to what ultimately proved a match-winning total.
Retiring Southern Brave captain Anya Shrubsole:
"I have a whole range of emotions. Relief that we finally got over the line. I am so proud of the girls. We have played brilliantly for three years and to finally lift the trophy is an amazing feeling.
"It is right up there [with my career highlights], just because of the occasion and knowing it was my last game and having been so close two years running. All those things make it really, really special.
"I often say sport is not that kind, it doesn't often give people the ending they might want, so I feel incredibly fortunate to get the ending I wanted. I could only have dreamed of having this career."
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