Recent Match Report – Brave vs Invincibles 6th Match 2022

Southern Brave 153 for 8 (Mandhana 46, Kemp 24, Smale 2-12) beat Oval Invincibles 141 for 7 (Winfield-Hill 25, Adams 2-16, Wyatt 2-16) by 12 runs

Marizanne Kapp was match to return after lacking the opening sport by sickness and her return demanded a tricky name, with 4 prime-class abroad gamers within the squad and solely three permitted within the enjoying XI. Jonathan Batty, Invincibles’ head coach, was anticipated to go away out Suzie Bates, however her innings of 46 off 34 towards Northern Superchargers noticed her maintain her place.

Mandhana magic

Mandhana missed the ultimate week of the Hundred final yr, returning dwelling to see her household earlier than flying to Australia for India’s tour, and their batting wasn’t the identical with out her: within the remaining, they folded to 73 all out – which represented one thing of a restoration from 14 for six. While there is no such thing as a assure she would have stored out Kapp’s excessive-class opening spell on that day, this was a reminder of what Brave had missed.

She was up and working instantly, creaming her first ball – from Kapp, no much less – by the covers for 4 and hit six fours in her first 13 deliveries, punishing Kapp and Shabnim Ismail after they missed their lengths. When she slog-swept Mady Villiers for 4 initially of the ninth, she was a success away from a half-century after simply 24 balls, however was crushed within the flight by her twenty fifth and stumped by Winfield-Hill.

“I was timing the ball well,” Mandhana instructed Sky Sports on the interval. “When you get a first-ball boundary, that gives you a lot of confidence. I was really disappointed to get out – I think it’s a crime to get out in the 40s after batting so well – and really disappointed that I couldn’t play at least until the 90th ball.”

Brave keep coming

Invincibles took regular wickets through the middle phase, with 17-year-old left-arm spinner Sophia Smale keeping a lid on the scoring, but Charlotte Edwards has made a point of building a side with a long batting line-up and they continued to attack throughout the innings: Mandhana aside, no batter reached even 25 but their intent dragged them up to a defendable total.

Freya Kemp and Georgia Adams’ partnership of 45 off 24 balls for the sixth wicket was particularly crucial, and highlighted the extent to which Brave’s lower-order firepower has emboldened their batters to attack: rather than a major setback, each dismissal resembles one batter handing the baton over to the next.

Oval’s overseas dilemma

Batty’s decision to leave out his captain, and the MVP across the tournament’s first season, was a gamble that backfired. “She led them to the trophy final yr,” Lydia Greenway said on Sky. “From a coach’s viewpoint, for those who really feel like it’s worthwhile to make an enormous name like that, you must go for it. The problem they are going to have is that if they lose at the moment, how will they handle that?”

In her absence, Invincibles needed their overseas trio to step up and prove their worth; perhaps inevitably, they struggled to make any impact. Kapp and Ismail were uncharacteristically loose with the new ball and at the death, returning combined figures of 0 for 67 from 40 balls. With the bat, Bates hit 15 off 8 balls and Kapp crunched 19 off 9, but both fell without making a lasting impact.

With Alice Capsey sidelined because of the ankle damage she picked up fielding in Invincibles’ opening sport, their home gamers had been left with an excessive amount of to do. Ryana Macdonald-Gay’s late hitting put a dent in Amanda-Jade Wellington’s figures however by then, tight spells from half-time offspinners Adams (2 for 16 from 20) and Danni Wyatt (2 for 16 from 10) had seen the asking price spiral uncontrolled.