The Sunrisers defeated the Southern Vipers, the defending champions, in a thrilling, rain-shortened game to earn their first-ever Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy knockout stage participation.
In a match impacted by weather, the Sunrisers defeated the Vipers by a mere five runs under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) system.
Key Performances and Match Results
Sunrisers 281 (Griffith 55, MacLeod 53, Dattani 5-51) beat Southern Vipers 88 for 8 by five runs (DLS method).
Match Analysis
Sunrisers defeated holders Southern Vipers in a rain-affected thriller to advance to the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy knockout stages for the first time. The team managed by Grace Scrivens lost every game in the competition’s first three iterations before just losing out on qualification the previous year.
However, following fifty-wicket hauls for Cordelia Griffith and Lissy MacLeod to put them up for 281, they held Vipers to 88 in their 10-over chase of 94, their eighth victory of the competition, against the former Sunriser Naomi Dattani.
Despite the Hundred’s winless return, the holders Vipers were assured of a spot in the semi-final for next Saturday and were hoping that South East Stars’ victory against Northern Diamonds would finish in a home tie. Sunrisers will go to Diamonds, while Vipers will play Stars in their semifinal. On September 21, the victors of the games will meet at Leicester.
Dattani bowled in two periods that altered the course of Sunrisers’ innings, in addition to a single over at the end. After the Vipers had placed Scrivens and Jo Gardner in, they had calmly pocketed seventy runs in the first thirteen overs, until Dattani had devised a plan to remove the former.
She started out with four deliveries that were close to the stumps, then offered width as Scrivens attempted to create her own. Gardner was bowled two overs later with a delivery that nipped away.
After Dattani left the attack, Griffith and Jodi Grewcock’s 75-run partnership helped the Sunrisers resurrect, albeit both were put to the test by Rebecca Tyson and Ava Lee’s sharp spin.
However, as soon as Dattani returned, Grewcock was pinned leg before wicket and Eva Grey was thoroughly bowled, and Lee was rewarded by stumping Griffith, who had reached her tenth half-century for Sunrisers.
With a score of 174 for 5, the visitors required a counter, which they obtained thanks to the resourceful hitting of Flo Miller and MacLeod. In the quick 90-run stand, MacLeod hit 41 off 31 balls, her third-best score in all competitions this season, but she mishandled a 37-ball fifty, her first in the RHFT since 2021.
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However, MacLeod skewed to short third and Amara Carr was leg before first ball to Georgia Adams in the final three overs, which resulted in wicket losses. Before two run outs in the last over saw Sunrisers end on 281, Dattani’s greatest moment—just the third five-for in Vipers history—came when Miller swung straight to deep backward point.
Rain started after the interval and continued until the Vipers’ innings was reduced to just 10 overs. With such small boundaries, 94 is now their improbable objective.
In the second over, Ella McCaughan hit three boundaries but took one ball too many to go straight up, Rhianna Southby sliced to backward point, and Dattani swept to short fine leg. Thanks to Emily Windsor and Nancy Harman’s astute running in a stand valued at twenty-six, they had maintained their lead over the dizzying rate even after Adams was run out.
However, Abi Norgrove was run out and Harman and Windsor holed out, leaving 13 needed off the final over, of which Vipers could muster just 7.
The Sunrisers are the only side in five seasons of regional cricket to win a Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy game at the Utilita Bowl. They also saw success on the field the previous season.