Welsh Fire self-destruct as Southern Brave snatch points

Welsh Fire lost control at the death and Southern Brave picked up the points after a late-order collapse.

Welsh Fire looked set but fell apart in the closing overs, losing wickets in quick succession. Southern Brave held their nerve with ball in hand, piling pressure on and cashing in on the mistakes. What could have been close went Brave’s way after Fire’s collapse handed them the advantage. A game that turned in the final phase — Welsh Fire’s late wobble gave Southern Brave the opening they needed to take the win and the points.

The Fire had controlled the chase but with the end in sight they were squeezed mercilessly by an experienced Brave bowling attack.

Lauren Bell and Tilly Corteen-Coleman initially dragged things back for the hosts, but it was Australia and Brave captain Sophie Molineux, who lifted the T20 World Cup just two weeks ago, who was the star with her 3 for 14 proving match-winning.

"It was a great win in front of our home crowd," Molineux said. "We clawed our way back and it was really pleasing... It'd be nice if we could take some catches, but we should not read too much into that and just crack on."

Fire win toss, strike early

Skipper Sophie Devine chose to bowl first. Heather Graham made an instant impact, bowling Maia Bouchier first ball — the first of her 4 wickets. Lizelle Lee and Laura Wolvaardt steadied things, taking Brave to 54/1 from 45 balls before Lee holed out to long-on. Jemimah Rodrigues didn’t last long, but Sophie Molineux injected pace while Wolvaardt kept ticking over. A flurry of wickets at the end slowed Brave down, and Welsh Fire went into the break feeling they’d pulled things back.

But then things started to happen. Rodrigues pulled off a direct hit to run Kemp out, Molineux got the big wicket of Devine and the Fire's nerves were jangling. When Corteen-Coleman had Voll caught by Bouchier for a 39-ball 52 the game was right back in the balance.

Bell then picked up two wickets in three balls to leave 16 needed from 10. Molineux's smarts saw her concede three off the next five and it was left to Corteen-Coleman to seal the deal, seeing the game out at the death.

Southern Brave 126 for 7 (Wolvaardt 45*, Lee 31, Graham 4-19) beat Welsh Fire 118 for 8 (Voll 52, Kemp 39, Molineux 3-14) by eight runs