Trent Rockets Women 110/7-133/5 Southern Brave (The Hundred Women)
Trent Rockets Men 127/1-126/8 Southern Brave (The Hundred Men)
Trent Bridge witnessed a mixed day of action in their first showing of The Hundred on Saturday, as the Trent Rockets welcomed the Southern Brave for a pair of top quality, 100-ball matches.
With all that action on the field of play, Rockets Women narrowly being edged by 23 runs in the morning game, before the Rockets Men cantered to a nine wicket success in the afternoon, mention must be afforded those in attendance, obviously enjoying themselves, but, for one young Rockets fan, caught on camera, was enjoying herself decked in yellow, holding her cuddly toy, and busting out some major moves in the stands.
They’d be moves that both Natalie Sciver (44), who, alongside Kathryn Brunt (22) and Heather Graham (28), fell just short of overhauling the Braves’ total of 133-5, and those of Marchant De Lange, Dawid Malan (62 n/o), and D’Arcy Short (51 n/o), would be proud of.
In the Women’s encounter early on, the Southern Brave posted 133-5, although it could have been better if the momentum had stayed in Trent Rockets favour after an early flurry in the field had the hosts in a commanding position, the Brave falling to first 14-3, then 57-5, but the visitors mounted a strong second half of the innings to keep in contention.
Any kind of Rockets momentum quickly dissipated when first Rachel Priest, then Sammy-Jo Johnson, fell early, and suddenly they found themselves 9-2, but Sciver was to prove a relentless foe in the Rockets attack, coming close to helping drag them over the line.
First, alongside Brunt, the pair ramped up the score, keeping themselves within touching distance, even if Amanda-Jade Wellington was proving a thorn in the side, but, with that momentum in full swing, it was brought to a shuddering half in quick succession as first a slow from Lauren Bell bowls out Sciver at 44, before Brunt is caught after hitting for six by Maia Bouchier, the hosts now rattled at 76-4.
Rockets batting now saw Heather Graham and Abi Freeborn at the crease going into the final twenty balls of the contest, Graham notching boundaries to add to Sciver and Brunt’s earlier effort, the pair taking the Rockets past the century mark, but, with balls running out, the chase was running out of steam, Anya Shrubsole taking apart the Rockets at the seams.
The Brae captain would take three wickets at the death, collecting first Freeborn LBW, they Graham, and finally Kathryn Bryce, for a duck with the last ball of the contest, the bowler posting final figures of 4-13 off 20 balls, the last three wickets dropping in just four balls.
The afternoon session would see the Men take to the field, with the Brave opting to bat first and, after falling to 6-1 with the dismissal of James Vince, he being bowled quickly by Luke Wood, but they regrouped well, for a time at least, as Devon Conway and Alex Davies put a little run together.
Then came the collapse, the Brave dropping from 33-2 to 71-6, a run which included a De Lange masterclass with the ball, he taking three of his five wickets in that spell before finishing with figures of 5-20 off 20 balls, even Joe Root grabbed himself a wicket, just for added measure.
Ross Whiteley (39 n/o) and Chris Jordan then put up another fight against the Rockets attack, they taking the visitors past a hundred, even past one-twenty, before De Lange struck again, and again, to wrap up proceedings, that ball that dismissed George Garton, at 90+mph, gave the hosts a run-chase of just 122; they weren’t to be troubled.
Although Alex Hales was dismissed early on by Garton after just a few balls, the pairing of D’Arcy Short and Dawid Malan took care of everything else, and without moving out of first gear, being helped early on when being gifted three no-balls from the opening fifteen balls – it was one of those starts.
Both Rockets batsmen helped themselves to boundaries throughout the innings and, no matter what the Brave bowling order tried, it was to no avail, a nice period of play from Malan seeing him register a half-century in a flurry of boundaries, whilst Short would join him later in the innings as they cantered to their target.
The Malan-Short partnership seeing the Rockets comfortably home at 127-1, and taking the game by nine wickets, the Brave bowling figures reading with Garton 1-29 off 15 balls, whilst Liam Dawson and Colin de Grandhomme were on damage-control without taking wickets.
Next up for the Trent Rockets is another, home double-header, with the visit of the Northern Superchargers.
Rockets Women: Rachel Priest, Sammy-Jo Johnson, Natalie Sciver (capt), Katherine Brunt, Heather Graham, Abi Freeborn, Sarah Glenn, Kathryn Bryce, Lucy Higham, Michaela Kirk, Teresa Graves.
Rockets Men: Alex Hales, D’Arcy Short, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Tom Moores, Lewis Gregory (capt), Steven Mullaney, Samit Patel, Rashid Khan, Luke Wood, Marchant de Lange.
Venue: Trent Bridge, Nottingham
*Article provided by Peter Mann (Senior Correspondent).
*Main image @TrentBridge a winning start for the men who beat Southern Brave.
