King stars as Rockets beat Fire to avoid elimination

Sophia Gardens, The Hundred women’s competition

Trent Rockets 145-6 (100 balls): Sciver-Brunt 38 (26), Davies 3-26

Welsh Fire 122-9 (100 balls): Dunkley 26 (23), King 3-17

By 23 runs, Trent Rockets won.

Welsh Fire’s 23-run victory over Trent Rockets kept their flimsy qualification hopes alive in the Sophia Gardens women’s competition.

If Manchester Originals defeat Birmingham Phoenix in the later game at 14:30 BST, Rockets can defend a close game score of 145-6.

As they struggled for partnerships throughout the innings, Fire, who were already out, couldn’t score 122-9.

They were perplexed by the world-class spinners Ash Gardner and Alana King, both of whom took five wickets each.

With 3-17, Leg-spinner King reclaimed plenty of turn and control from the Cardiff surface, while Gardner’s relentless accuracy saw her smash the key wickets of Hayley Matthews and Sophia Dunkley.

After Bryony Smith’s dynamic 38 from 27 balls at the top of the order provided them with a useful platform, Gardner and England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt added a pair of partnership numbers to their 67 for the match.

With 20 balls left, the Rockets were set for a formidable total of 120-2, but Fire regained some control as both set batters dropped in six balls, Sciver-Brunt scoring 38 and Gardner finishing with 36.

At the end of the third ball, Freya Davies took two wickets in two balls, but despite their strong fightback, the result was far too much for a batting line-up that had had a difficult campaign.

London Spirit will need to beat Oval Invincibles at 15:00 BST to increase their top-three hopes in the women’s competition, which is a crucial day for them as they aim to do so.

At 18:30 BST, Invincibles have already confirmed a spot in the knockouts, but Spirit must win to maintain their slim hopes.