Rockets beat Phoenix to keep top three hopes alive

The Hundred women’s competition, Edgbaston

Birmingham Phoenix 112-6 (100 balls): Kalis 47 (45); Sciver-Brunt 2-16, Gardner 2-17

Trent Rockets 114-7 (97 balls): Sciver-Brunt 34 (25); Arlott 2-21, Pavely 2-21

Rockets won by three wickets

Scorecard. Table

Trent Rockets overcame a late collapse to claim a nervy three-wicket win over Birmingham Phoenix and stay in top-three contention in The Hundred.

A fine all-round performance from captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, who took 2-16 with the ball then made 34 from 25 balls in the chase, looked to have set the Rockets up for a comfortable victory.

But her dismissal, with 24 runs from 28 balls still required to reach their target of 113, led to a dramatic finish in which they lost 4-12 to slip to 101-7.

There was then a moment of controversy when Josie Groves was caught off a full toss from Emily Arlott with nine runs needed, only for the third umpire to adjudge that it was a no-ball on review.

The ball was above waist height when Groves connected with it but she had advanced down the pitch.

That brought it down to seven needed and Groves proceeded to hit the winning runs with three balls to spare.

Phoenix had earlier been saved by a 95-run partnership between opener Sterre Kalis and Richa Ghosh – the highest fourth-wicket stand in The Hundred women’s competition – after they slumped to 9-3 after 15 balls.

Victory for the Rockets lifts them to fourth, level on points with Northern Superchargers in third, with one round of games remaining in the group stage.

Rockets face second-placed Oval Invincibles on Wednesday and a fourth win in a row will see them advance.

Defeat for Phoenix means they are eliminated.

Match hero, Trent Rockets captain Nat Sciver-Brunt: “We made sure we weren’t getting ahead of ourselves or panicking.

“In terms of the chase, we got ahead of it a bit earlier and gave ourselves a bit of relief so, at the end, that pressure didn’t build up.

“We’ve had so many close games and to come out on the right side of it feels much better. It’s in our hands and if we beat the Oval Invincibles then we’re into that top three.”

Trent Rockets all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner: “We probably butchered it a little bit. We shouldn’t have got into the predicament that we were in.

“Our batters were seeing it well, Nat, Heather [Graham] and I got out at inopportune times and put a lot of pressure on the lower order.

“Thankfully for us, they were very well composed and got us over the line.”

Northern Superchargers host London Spirit in Tuesday’s double-header. The women’s match begins at 15:00 BST, followed by the men’s game at 18:30.

You will be able to watch both games lives on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer. Coverage starts at 14:45.

You can follow ball-by-ball commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website and app.