Devine, Wareham stars as Welsh Fire crush MI London

Sophie Devine and Georgia Wareham headlined a powerful display from Welsh Fire to sweep aside MI London by 60 runs at Sophia Gardens. Fire collected the wooden spoon last summer but on this form they could be contenders for the title as they posted 177 for 4, the third-highest total in the history of the women's competition, and restricted their opponents to 117. Narrowly defeated by Southern Brave in their opening fixture in a game they should have won, Fire built a strong foundation here through openers Georgia Voll and Ella McCaughan after they were asked to bat by MI London. The pair put on 49 in 36 deliveries before Hayley Matthews deceived McCaughan (27 from 23) with a dipping delivery that she swatted to Hollie Armitage at extra cover. Voll continued to play her shots, eventually falling for a 26-ball 42 when she skied Melie Kerr to Chinelle Henry at long-on. The dangerous Freya Kemp left two balls later, running out for the second match in a row. After that, Devine and Wareham shared a thrilling fourth-wicket stand of 79 in just 35 deliveries, displaying their full arsenal of strokes. Devine hit Matthews for 14 in the space of three balls, including two mighty sixes, and the skipper finally fell to the penultimate delivery of the innings, stumped off a Matthews wide having made 52 off 29. Wareham was equally as brutal, blitzing an unbeaten 43 from 20. Em Arlott hit the final ball of the innings for six to pile more pressure on MI London, who never got going in reply. Grace Potts was their main tyrant, taking out the top three for a score of 3 for 24, and Henry was the only MI London batter who put up a real fight, scoring 30 before Devine got him out for 2 for 15. By lbw trapping Dani Gregory, Wareham (2 for 23) completed a superb all-around performance and secured a comprehensive victory. She stated, "The way we started was awesome with the bat, and then we were clinical with the ball." First game at home, we want to make this our fortress."