Matthews helps skittle Brave as Fire strengthen grip on top spot

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Defending champions remain winless after being dismissed for 84 in Cardiff

Hayley Matthews celebrates after dismissing Freya Kemp  •  ECB via Getty Images

Welsh Fire 88 for 3 (Beaumont 34) beat Southern Brave 84 (Matthews 3-16) by seven wickets

Welsh Fire cruised to the top of the table in the women’s Hundred with a convincing win against Southern Brave at Sophia Gardens. Hayley Matthews took 3 for 16 to see the winless Brave bowled out for 84, a total that Fire had few alarms knocking off just three wickets down.

The Welsh side were into their work straight away when Freya Davies dismissed Smriti Mandhana with the first ball of the game – the second time Davies has taken a wicket with the first ball of the innings in this year’s competition.

Southern Brave lost wickets at regular intervals throughout, with none of the batters getting to grips with seam or spin, and justifying Tammy Beaumont‘s decision to field first at the toss.

Georgia Adams top-scored with 17, while Matthews starred with the ball. The West Indian allrounder was supported by a strong fielding display throughout, with excellent catches from Phoebe Franklin and Beaumont to take the wickets of Maia Bouchier and Danni Wyatt respectively.

Fire paced their reply, despite losing Sophia Dunkley for a golden duck, with Beaumont and Bryce steadily progressing through the run chase.

When Beaumont was bowled by Lauren Cheatle – who was the pick of the Brave bowlers and went for just eight runs from her 20 balls – it was left to Jess Jonassen to take Fire to the finish line, their fourth win in this year’s edition of the Hundred, which sees them sitting at the top of the table.

Meerkat Match Hero Matthews said: “I just tried to pitch it in some really good areas – I think there was a bit in the pitch for me as a spinner. So I tried to keep my lines pretty straight and I managed to get some wickets doing that. There was a bit of turn and bounce in the pitch, so I felt the length was really important and I tried to keep the stumps in play for as long as possible.

“We’ve been playing really well as a team and having everyone contribute. We obviously had a good start, getting the wicket from the first ball and we just went from there.”