Northern Superchargers 146-4 beat Oval Invincibles 64 by 82 runs
By ECB Media
OVAL Invincibles were beaten by Northern Superchargers as Annabel Sutherland inspired the visitors to their first victory of The Hundred with a sterling all-round performance at The Kia Oval.
The powerful Australian made 63 from 40 balls to take her team to an imposing total of 146-4, before taking 4-11 with the ball to wrap up the win. Her four wickets were all clean-bowled, and came from the last six balls of the match to ensure it was a game very much defined by her abilities.
After a loss and a tie, Sutherland’s heroics provided Hollie Armitage’s team with their first win of the campaign and further opened up the table in a year that’s seeing everyone beat everyone.
Needing a win, Davina Perrin set the tone for the Superchargers with two early boundaries – and though her stay was a short one, caught superbly by Amanda-Jade Wellington off the bowling of Rachel Slater, her aggression gave an indication of what was to come from the visitors.
Phoebe Litchfield took on the mantle, backed up by England wicket-keeper Bess Heath, but it was Sutherland’s innings – featuring three long-levered sixes into the sun-drenched crowd – that stood out.
Oval Invincibles’ 100 per cent record in the competition so far would have given them hope of chasing down Superchargers’ 146, and so too would the introduction of Chamari Athapaththu, the Sri Lankan skipper making her first appearance in this year’s competition after her country’s Asia Cup success.
But Athapaththu wasn’t to last long, dismissed on the 20th ball of the innings, caught smartly by Kate Cross off the bowling off Linsey Smith. Two balls later, Invincibles were five down when Cross bowled Mady Villiers, the second of her two wickets having earlier trapped Winfield-Hill in front.
Smith also accounted for Alice Capsey, with Marizanne Kapp undone by a run-out, and at 23-5 the contest was as good as done.
Paige Scholfield and Wellington re-built for Invincibles, without ever threatening Superchargers’ total, and then Sutherland returned to take four in six and put Superchargers on the board.
Sutherland said: “It is so nice to get a win on the board. I don’t think we were that far off last game with the tie. We’ve felt pretty good as a group. We’ve bowled very well, we just haven’t quite put it together with the bat, so it was nice to do it out there.”
She added: “I was trying to hit the top of the stumps. It felt like there was a bit in the wicket, a bit of seam, so that’s what I was trying to do and it was nice that a few came off the wicket and went through the gate.
“We were really positive still. It was a tough wicket at Headingley, and I think there were a few individual reflections but like I said we bowled and fielded tremendously as a group. It was just up to a couple of individuals with the bat to have a think and stay really positive.
“I thought Phoebs [Phoebe Litchfield] started the game really well and Dav [Davina Perrin] up top – cool to see her get an opportunity first game and taking the game on and setting the tone for us.”
The Invincibles play London Spirit at Lord’s at 11am on Sunday (August 4).
