Sophie Ecclestone stars with bat and ball as Manchester Originals keep play-off hopes alive
Birmingham Phoenix suffer second defeat after being dismissed for 104 chasing 123
Birmingham Phoenix suffer second defeat after being dismissed for 104 chasing 123
Commentator: Ekanth and Sreshth
This game's done but no sooner is the next starting. The men's sides take each other on, on the same ground and Matt Roller's started the coverage. Follow that game here. From Ekanth, Sreshth, and Raghav here, it's goodbye.
Kate Cross, Manchester Originals Captain: We were 10-15 short but it was quite a tricky pitch. We knew if we bowled well, we had a chance of defending it. The opening pair has been good, Lee has been close to a big score but finds a way to get out. But she played well. Jones is the controller and Sophie is the aggressor. We wanted Jones to bowl wcket-to-wicket which brought rewards. We've had a tough tournament as we were in but lost games towards the end. But Sophie proved why she's so good, I wish she had more than 20 to bowl. We didn't know Dottin was going but did once she got here, her leaving meant we had to compensate. She was great with the bat and in the field, but getting Erin in was good. But Dottin's a three-dimensional player and we'll miss her. We knew we weren't too far away from par but focused on being gritty and fighting till the end. We knew if we bowl straight and do what they did, we could get through. I made a conscious decision to take risks, I thought I was too risky at Headingley, but kept Sophie till the end.
Sophie Ecclestone, POTM: Great afternoon, happy to contribute to the win. The wicket was hard to bat on, particularly with the slower balls. Keeping spin at one end and pace at the other was key. We came out thinking there's nothing to lose, we're closely knit as a team and are buzzing to have won.
6.11pm The Originals move to 4 points, and this win is courtesy their bowling effort at the top that had the Phoenix struggling at 22 for 4. Elwiss, Wong and Arlott tried hard to start a Phoenix recovery, but when Nos. 1-5 have all been out for single-digit scores, the way up is quite arduous. Cross and Ecclestone the pick of the bowlers - conceding just 22 runs in the 40 balls between them for five wickets. Here's Ekanth with the presentation.
AM Maqsood run out 0 (2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00
KL Gordon b Ecclestone 0 (1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00
PA Franklin b Ecclestone 7 (7b 0x4 0x6) SR: 100.00
Phoenix need 20 in 5.
Birmingham Phoenix suffer second defeat after being dismissed for 104 chasing 123