WEST Indian superstar Hayley Matthews continued her remarkable all-round form as Welsh Fire cruised to a commanding nine-wicket victory over bottom side Southern Brave at Utilita Bowl. The result guaranteed the Fire a top-three place and progression to The Hundred’s knockout stage, while the Brave remain rooted to the bottom of the table. Matthews delivered figures of 4-14 with her off-breaks, before her unbeaten 35, in the slipstream of Tammy Beaumont’s 59 (40), helped the visitors knock off their target with 26 balls to spare.
Fire are now in a strong position, due to their superior run rate, to finish in top spot and qualify automatically for The Hundred Final at Lord’s on Sunday. After Beaumont put the Brave in at the toss, Matthews dismissed the in-form Danni Wyatt, caught at deep midwicket, before Smriti Mandhana departed four balls later to the pace of Shabnim Ismail, to leave the Brave 15-2 at the end of the powerplay. And Brave were quickly four down when Jess Jonassen had Georgia Adams stumped, before Maia Bouchier fell to give Matthews her second after Phoebe Franklin held onto a superb diving catch in the deep.
Freya Kemp got a feather to a Jonassen arm-ball, Naomi Dattani was bowled by a beauty from Matthews, and when Kalea Moore was stumped two balls later, the Brave were tottering on 47-7. Chloe Tryon singlehandedly rescued the innings with an aggressive 55 (38), dominating the latter stages with boundaries down the ground and through the cover region, ad.