Birmingham Phoenix 147-4 (100 balls) Jones 64 (47), Burns 28* (22); Levick 2-23Northern Superchargers 133-6 (100 balls) Winfield-Hill 64 (38); Wong 2-24Phoenix win by 14 runsScorecard. Desk
Eve Jones’ sensational particular person efficiency helped Birmingham Phoenix all-but safe a spot within the girls’s Hundred eliminator with a 14-run win over Northern Superchargers.
In a pressurised ultimate group match wherein the winner progressed and the loser was knocked out, Jones stroked an excellent 64 from 47 balls to take her aspect to 147-4.
Then, with Superchargers well-placed at 97-1 and seemingly heading in the right direction for the knockout levels, Jones produced a spectacular, match-winning diving catch to dismiss Superchargers skipper Lauren Winfield-Hill for 64.
After plucking the ball inches above the turf within the deep, the 29-year-old was mobbed by her team-mates on the Headingley outfield.
Phoenix squeezed the sport from there, slowing the Superchargers’ scoring till they ultimately completed on 133-6.
The Phoenix leap from sixth to 3rd within the desk and can meet the Oval Invincibles in Friday’s eliminator until London Spirit beat Welsh Hearth by an enormous margin on Wednesday.
Jones the hero for Phoenix
Eve Jones… Wow!
Her innings, which included three highly effective sixes, was good. However her catch was arguably even higher and extra vital.
Winfield-Hill seemed like she might win the sport on her personal and had been dropped twice simply moments earlier than.
Jones made no such mistake, swooping in off the boundary, tumbling right down to her proper and clinging on to the ball. A few of her team-mates seemed on in disbelief.
“I believed ‘what a shot’ and seemed over and Jonesy was beneath it,” Phoenix skipper Amy Jones stated afterwards.
In reality this was a headline efficiency for one of many gamers of the match – her knock taking her to 3rd within the run-scorers’ charts with 233.
Jones was one of many gamers given knowledgeable contract final yr when the variety of full-time girls’s gamers within the UK was elevated to 41 and has not seemed again.
An England call-up should absolutely be across the nook.
Phoenix rise from the Ashes
There’s nothing in a reputation, proper? This win caps a outstanding rise for the Phoenix who have been on the point of elimination 10 days in the past.
They misplaced 4 of their first 5 video games and have been caught on the backside of the desk however have gained three video games in a row since, with initially slim hopes of qualification turning into scenes of celebration at a dissatisfied Headingley.
“From the place now we have been, we have been very a lot [thinking] something is a bonus,” stated bowler Issy Wong.
“For us to have gotten there, the battle now we have proven the final two weeks, we’re going into it [the eliminator] on a excessive. Hopefully now we have a little bit of momentum with us now.”
The Superchargers’ match was the reverse. They have been unbeaten of their first 4 video games, elevating hope of a run to the ultimate, however it ended with 4 defeats.
There might be extra success for the Phoenix later with their males, already assured an eliminator place, taking part in the Superchargers from 18:30 BST, understanding a win will see them go straight into Saturday’s ultimate as group winners.
