Northern Superchargers fall at opening hurdle as Winfield-Hill leads Oval Invincibles to victory

The former England opener plundered an unbeaten 74 from 42 balls, sharing an opening stand of 104 with Suzie Bates as the hosts cantered to a target of 144 with 16 balls to spare.

The successful chase came after Superchargers posted 143-5 courtesy of 51 from one of the stars of the 2021 Hundred, Jemimah Rodrigues, and 49 from Laura Wolvaardt, Ryana Macdonald-Gay the pick of the host’s attack with two for 25.

Alyssa Healy got Superchargers off to an explosive start after they were invited to bat first, clearing the ropes as she plundered 14 from the first set of five from Mady Villiers.

The fun though didn’t last long as she lofted spinner Sophia Smale’s third ball to Alice Capsey at mid-off and the England starlet was soon in the action again with ball in hand, dismissing Beth Heath cheaply

Rodrigues found a willing ally in South Africa’s Wolvaardt as the duo shared a fourth-wicket stand of 66.

Rodrigues reached 50 from 31 balls with a glorious late cut only to hole out next ball off Macdonald-Gay and Superchargers went 20 balls without a boundary before some late blows from Wolvaardt.

Bates and Winfield-Hill set about the chase with relish, the former striking Lucy Higham for successive fours, while the latter clouted a short one from Beth Langston over the ropes.

Winfield-Hill matched Rodrigues in reaching 50 in 31 balls and with Bates now in full flow the 100-stand was raised.

It took a superb catch by Wolvaardt off Gunn to remove Bates for 46 and break the stand, but Capsey was then dropped first ball, albeit a difficult chance.

It proved Superchargers’ last hope as Capsey joined in the fun to secure victory.

Superchargers batter Hollie Armitage said: “I think we’ve got to look at the way we batted and bowled today and review it properly, but also not forget what we’re really good at. The games come round quickly, so it’s one of those things where we’ve got to put it under the carpet and move onto the next challenge.

“Your first game of any big tournament is nerve-wracking, never mind it being an away crowd, you’re playing the reigning champs, it’s a big game. At the end of the day, Loz (Lauren Winfield-Hill) really turned up and unfortunately we were at the wrong end of the result.”