Rockets beat Invincibles to keep slim hopes alive

The Hundred women’s competition, The Oval

Oval Invincibles 109-7 (100 balls): Lanning 45 (35); Gardner 2-10

Trent Rockets 113-4 (84 balls): Scrivens 34 (27); Wellington 1-15

Rockets won by six wickets

Trent Rockets kept their slim qualification hopes alive with a six-wicket win over Oval Invincibles in the women’s Hundred.

Rockets made hard work of chasing just 110 at The Kia Oval after a flurry of middle-order wickets, but Heather Graham held her nerve with an unbeaten 19 from 11 balls and they reached their target with 16 balls to spare.

The visitors had a flying start from Bryony Smith and Grace Scrivens, who added 51 in 35 balls together, but the Invincibles fought back to remove Smith for 24 and claimed the huge wickets of Nat Sciver-Brunt for two and Ash Gardner for 11.

Scrivens then fell for 34, but Graham and Jodi Grewcock, with 21 not out, settled the Rockets’ nerves and sealed their first win against the Invincibles.

In contrast to the Rockets’ rapid start, Invincibles had crawled to 13-1 from their powerplay, which included 16 dot balls, as captain Lauren Winfield-Hill fell for seven from 14.

Former Australia skipper Meg Lanning revived the innings as she kicked on to 45 from 35 balls, but Ash Gardner changed the course of the game as she dismissed Lanning and Marizanne Kapp in the space of three balls.

Paige Scholfield clubbed the last ball for six to take Invincibles to 109-7 but her 16 not out was the second highest score of the innings as they failed to put partnerships together throughout.

Despite being set a below-par total, it did not feel like a straightforward chase for the Rockets, whose batting has been inconsistent throughout the tournament.

They changed their opening partnership, swapping Nat Wraith in favour of Scrivens, and the 21-year-old showed impressive composure despite taking the backseat to Smith in their opening stand.

Smith seized the initiative by whacking Kapp for four first ball but Scrivens took ownership of the chase thereafter with five fours in her 27-ball knock.

Sciver-Brunt and Gardner were furious with their soft dismissals, both caught on the boundary off Kapp and Amanda-Jade Wellington respectively, and it felt like the game had tipped in the Invincibles’ favour, considering the Rockets’ reliance on their senior all-rounders.

Scrivens also holed out off Alice Capsey, perhaps just lacking a little game awareness at a crunch moment, but 20-year-old Grewcock stepped up.

It’s a bottom-of-the-table contest in the women’s Hundred as Welsh Fire, who are already eliminated, take on Birmingham Phoenix at Edgbaston at 15:00 BST.

The men’s game follows at 18:30 BST with Fire needing a win to keep their very slim qualification hopes alive while a victory for Phoenix, who are fifth, would boost their top-three chances.