Aussie duo Ashleigh Gardner and Alana King spun Trent Rockets to a much-needed 31-run win over London Spirit at Trent Bridge in The Hundred women’s competition.
Gardner and King combined for six wickets as a star-studded Spirit line-up never threatened to chase down 158-5.
Young gun Grace Scrivens struck 55 from 43 balls for the hosts, although she had to walk off the field in the second innings when she was struck in the face attempting a catch.
It meant Rockets ended a three-game losing streak and was made all the more impressive as Nat Sciver-Brunt, the women’s competition’s leading runscorer, had a comparatively quiet match with 21 from 12 balls.
Former England U19s skipper Scrivens played arguably her best innings of The Hundred, sharing a 74-run opening stand with Bryony Smith that set the tone for a performance that will have caught the attention of the other teams.
Scrivens hit nine boundaries and her opening stand with Smith, who crashed 34 from 22 balls, was only ended in misfortunate when Charlie Dean got a finger on the ball before it crashed into the stumps with Smith unable to recover her ground after backing up.
India star Deepti Sharma claimed the big wickets of Sciver-Brunt and Gardner, but Heather Graham’s unbeaten 22 from 12 balls ensured a fast finish.
Spirit’s chase was immediately undermined when Gardner removed Georgia Redmayne and Cordelia Griffith from successive balls before King had former Australia captain Meg Lanning caught by Kirstie Gordon at mid-on.
Gardner trapped Dani Gibson lbw and when England and Spirit skipper Heather Knight’s sweep at King landed in the hands of Smith, after hitting 29 from 20, the game was up.
Gardner and King both finished with identical figures of 3-23 from 20 balls as Spirit closed on 127-7.
Player of the match: Ashleigh Gardner
“It was a huge win for us. It was probably the first game we put all three facets of the game together. The openers did a fantastic job giving us the start that they did. That was the best we’ve been with the ball and we were pretty clean in the field.
“It was a pretty perfect performance.”
What’s next?
The Hundred continues with four matches on Thursday. First, Welsh Fire and Northern Superchargers women get the day started at 11.30am, before another women’s match between Oval Invincibles and Southern Brave at 3pm.
Also at 3pm, the Welsh Fire and Northern Superchargers men meet in Cardiff, then Oval Invincibles go up against Southern Brave men at 6.30pm. Every match from The Hundred is live on Sky Sports Cricket.
