Birmingham Phoenix prevailed in the battle to avoid the wooden spoon in The Hundred women’s competition as Ellyse Perry’s composed half-century condemned MI London to a sixth defeat of a chastening campaign.
Both teams had managed a solitary victory heading into this fixture but a fifth-wicket stand of 66 between Perry (62no from 39) and Pakistan skipper Fatima Sana (36 from 32) ensured Phoenix halted a three-match losing streak to end with a consolation win and finish seventh in the table.
Set a modest target of 122, the hosts were wobbling at 48-4 after Jemima Spence and Davina Perrin fell in the powerplay and England duo Alice Capsey and Emma Lamb were dismissed cheaply, with Kirstie Gordon (2-20) making early inroads with her left-arm spin.
But Perry found a willing partner in Sana, who eventually fell to Nicola Carey when just seven runs were required, and the Aussie superstar secured the win with six balls to spare.
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‘WHAT is that!’ | Have you ever seen a shot like this one from Perrin?
The hosts chose to chase after winning the toss and made an early breakthrough when Lauren Filer pinned Kira Chathli lbw, but Hayley Matthews (21 off 14), searching for form, gave the innings some impetus with four boundaries
The Bajan’s resurgence was short-lived, though, falling to a spectacular catch by Perrin off Sana, and Melie Kerr was dismissed first ball by Phoebe Brett when she spooned to Perry at mid-off.
Alice Monaghan was cleaned up by a peach of an off-cutter from Eva Gray as MI London slipped to 47-4 and Hollie Armitage and Chinelle Henry began a rebuilding job, putting on 56 for the fifth wicket before Henry (42 off 33) holed out to Perry off Alana King.
Armitage (31 off 31) and Carey dispatched King for boundaries as the visitors tried to up the ante but their total of 120-6 looked well below-par after Armitage fell to Gray (2-29) from the final ball of the innings and MI London were ultimately left to lament an underwhelming campaign.
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Perry said: “It’s nice to finish on a high. I thought we bowled especially well. I can’t fault our effort the whole way through this tournament, we’ve given it absolutely everything we can, it just hasn’t come off for the most part.
“To finish well, at home, with a really great atmosphere here as usual, was lovely.”
Fire end Hundred campaign with victory over Spirit
Welsh Fire closed out a 15-run win over London Spirit in their final match of the women’s Hundred at Sophia Gardens.
With neither side able to progress from the group, there was little on the line in Cardiff, where the Fire eventually built some momentum through a half-century from captain Georgia Wareham which helped them on to post 138-7.
Grace Harris picked up three wickets for 15 runs.
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London Spirit then soon found themselves in trouble at 2-2 off just seven balls after Harris and Marie Kelly, out for a golden duck, fell in successive deliveries to Grace Potts, who then also removed opener Amy Jones (10).
Although captain Charlie Dean (27) looked to lead a recovery, the Fire made further inroads with regular breakthroughs as London were all out for 123 off 99 balls.
Orla Prendergast, Heather Graham and Sophia Smale all took two wickets each.
Watch every match of The Hundred through to the finals on Sunday August 16. Stream contract-free on NOW.