Welsh Fire 124 for 1 (Matthews 71*, Redmayne 38*) beat Manchester Originals 120 for 6 (Ecclestone 31*) by nine wickets
Welsh Fire's women claimed their first win of the Hundred thanks to an excellent effort in the field and an impressive innings of 71 from Hayley Matthews as they defeated Manchester Originals in Cardiff.
The Fire won the toss and put the Originals into bat. The Originals reached 120 for 6 from their 100 balls with Sophie Ecclestone top-scoring with a late-innings flourish of 31 not out off 15 balls.
The Fire got their innings off to a fantastic start thanks to Matthews who once again hit powerfully down the ground, and reached their target with nine wickets and 12 balls to spare. This defeat means the Originals are still to claim a win in the tournament.
The Fire were brilliant in the field inside the powerplay with just 21 runs coming from the first 25 balls. Lizelle Lee had crunched the first two balls of the innings for four but from there the Fire kept things very tight. It wasn't until the 36th ball of the innings that the Originals found the boundary again.
The Fire managed to picked up early wickets with Lee was run out in the first set of five and Emma Lamb also going inside the powerplay which set the tone for a tight performance
Harmanpreet Kaur played the anchor role for the Originals, making 26 from 32 balls but no batter went on having got set. Mignon du Preez looked impressive, making a well-paced 24 before she chipped a ball from Georgia Hennessey to mid-off.
It was Ecclestone who took the Originals past 100 and on to a score that they had some hope of defending. Her innings included a towering shot over midwicket off a Hennessy full toss. The Fire shared the wickets around with Hennessey finishing with the best figures of 2 for 24 from her 20 balls.
Matthews had made 33 and 30 in the tournament thus far but here she kicked on to pass fifty from just 35 balls. She was well supported by Georgia Redmayne who made 38 from 35 balls.
The Originals had a few moments where the undefeated partnership of 101 between Matthews and Redmayne could have been broken, not least when du Preez pulled off a stunning one-handed catch in the deep off Laura Jackson but it was judged to be a no-ball. As it was the two batters took their team to the victory target with ease.
