MacDonald-Gay fingers Invincibles first victory of marketing campaign

Oval Invincibles 128 for 7 (Capsey 50, van Niekerk 42) beat Manchester Originals 123 for 9 (Dottin 42, Macdonald-Gay 4-16) by 5 runs

But it was MacDonald-Gay who clinched the factors. She was an ever-present for Invincibles final season however was used sparingly with the ball within the latter half of the event and didn’t bowl of their final three video games, together with the ultimate. This was the primary time in her Hundred profession she had bowled all of her permitted 20 deliveries.

She struck together with her third ball, hitting Laura Wolvaardt on the pad and having her lbw on evaluation for 27, simply as she was beginning to transfer by way of the gears, and in her second set of 5 she had Ami Campbell caught at level, skying a slower ball to Marizanne Kapp.

Dottin thumped her down the bottom for 4 in her third set, however her final price solely three runs as she backed her variations to complete with the fourth-best bowling figures of the competitors to this point.

“She’s been brilliant for us at South East Stars, coming in at the back end and bowling her slower balls,” Capsey stated of her team-mate. “She bowls them brilliantly and that’s one of her strengths and one of the reasons she’s so valued in our team. Whenever she comes on, she impacts the game.

“She was bowling at Deandra Dottin, one of many world’s greatest gamers. That reveals her character, and what a terrific bowler she is. She actually held her nerve and backed her strengths. That’s all you’ll be able to ask for from a bowler. She saved us within the recreation.”

Invincibles started slowly with the bat, with Mahika Gaur striking early. Gaur, the towering teenage left-arm seamer, bowled 15 of the first 20 balls and had Lauren Winfield-Hill lbw, with figures of 1 for 7 from her first three sets.

Sophie Ecclestone had delayed her own entry before striking in her first set, having Suzie Bates stumped, and Capsey struggled for timing early on. She was dropped on 28 by Morris, then given out lbw one ball later only to successfully review the on-field decision.

She largely played second fiddle to van Niekerk but powered Ecclestone back over her head for a straight six, and was stumped immediately after reaching a 40-ball half-century, her first in a competitive game since the end of May.

Van Niekerk scored quickly against Originals’ spinners, who were held back until the end of the innings, crashing a six and a four off successive balls from Amanda-Jade Wellington as Invincibles eyed a late surge towards 140.

Instead, they slid to 128 for 7 as van Niekerk’s dismissal – caught at long-on off Wellington – preceded a flurry of three run-outs within the last six balls. Much to Invincibles’ reduction, the mini-collapse didn’t show pricey.