Ismail, Elwiss star as Fire down Invincibles to maneuver high of the desk
Welsh Fire 81 for 7 (Elwiss 33, Dunkley 28, Kapp 4-18, Scholfield 2-19) beat Oval Invincibles 80 (Winfield-Hill 42, Ismail 3-12, Elwiss 2-4) by three wickets
Shabnim Ismail returned to wreak havoc on her former team-mates as Welsh Fire edged out defending champions Oval Invincibles by three wickets to go high of the Women’s Hundred desk.
The South African fast, who helped the Invincibles carry successive Hundred titles earlier than switching to Fire this season, starred with 3 for 12 as the house facet had been steamrollered for simply 80 on the Kia Oval.
Ismail was backed up by Alex Griffiths and Georgia Elwiss, who took 2 for 15 and a couple of for 4 respectively as Invincibles misplaced 4 wickets for one run in a lethal eight-ball spell. Lauren Winfield-Hill‘s defiant knock of 42 from 35 deliveries was the one glimmer of hope within the Invincibles batting unit.
Elwiss top-scored with 33 from 29 as Fire chased down their goal with 20 balls to spare, though Marizanne Kapp’s spell of 4 for 18 ensured it was removed from simple.
Having received the toss and put the hosts in, Fire instantly utilized strain within the powerplay as Ismail despatched down six successive dot balls, the final of which eliminated Suzie Bates.
At 23 for 1, Invincibles had constructed some semblance of a platform – however that was demolished by the medium-pace pair of Elwiss and Griffiths, who each captured a wicket with their second deliveries.
Elwiss had Alice Capsey caught at quick third earlier than foxing Kapp with a slower ball that took out her center stump and Dane van Niekerk fell sufferer to the same providing by Griffiths, who additionally had Paige Scholfield caught on the boundary.
Ismail returned to dismiss Mady Villiers and Ryana MacDonald-Gay with successive balls and, when Eva Gray fell quickly afterwards to Claire Nicholas, the Invincibles had been wilting at 40 for 8.
But Winfield-Hill led a mini-fightback, with Sophia Smale after which Lizzie Scott serving to her to double their facet’s whole for the final two wickets till the opener was final out, bowled off the penultimate ball by Freya Davies.
Kapp then boosted her facet’s faint hopes by eradicating each Fire openers for geese – Tammy Beaumont gliding a first-ball outswinger to slide and Hayley Matthews caught at cowl in her subsequent set.
However, Dunkley discovered the boundaries often with a collection of cuts and pulls and she or he was joined by a succesful accomplice in Elwiss, with the pair sharing the best stand of the match – 40 from 38.
Fire regarded comfortably heading in the right direction till Scholfield struck twice in as many deliveries, with Dunkley holing out to lengthy on for 28 from 21 and Laura Harris caught at cowl.
But Elwiss, given a life on 8 when Smale spilled a catch at quick third, took benefit to steer Fire inside touching distance of victory – just for Kapp to hit again, turning into the third bowler within the sport to take two in two.
Although Smale picked up one other wicket, it was not sufficient to rescue Invincibles and Griffiths struck her for the successful run, courtesy of a misfield.