Shafali Verma leads Birmingham Phoenix Women to record runchase in The Hundred

It was raining fours at Edgbaston, Birmingham during the Birmingham Phoenix Women vs Welsh Fire Women game in The Hundred. A total of 31 fours were hit in both innings combined as Phoenix made completed a record win, chasing down 128 with all wickets intact and 24 balls remaining in the Hundred ball format. Shafali Verma and Eve Jones, the two openers of the Phoenix played tremendous knocks to get the team over the line. 

Chasing 128 in a 100 ball game is not an easy task and as a matter of fact, in The Hundred’s Women’s competition, this is the biggest victory in terms of wickets and ball remaining. The two Phoenix Women openers didn’t give any chance whatsoever to the Fire Women bowlers as they exploited each and every corner of the Edgbaston ground. 

While overseas star India’s Shafali Verma remained unbeaten on 76 off 42 balls with the help of nine fours and two sixes, striking at more than 180, 29-year-old Jones was equally impressive in her innings of 52 not out of 35 balls. The Fire bowlers kept searching for wickets but were unable to find any. Verma was adjudged Player of the Match for her performances with the bat. 

Earlier in the day, after winning the toss, Phoenix had decided to field first. Fire, with the help of Bryony Smith’s 38 and Alice Macleod’s unbeaten 19 off 13 balls managed to reach 127 for the loss of nine wickets. Kristie Gordon took two wickets for Phoenix. 

With this win, their second of the season, Phoenix have kept themselves alive for the Playoffs with one game to go. Although a lot of permutations and combinations would have to go their way along with the victory in the last match.

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New Zealand announce squad for World T20, Finn Allen ignored

New Zealand cricket has become the first team to announce its squad for the T20 World Cup 2021 which would be played in UAE and Oman starting from October 17. The team would be lead by Kane Williamson while no player has been named as his deputy. From the past experiences, it is suggested that fast bowler Tim Southee will work as Williamson’s deputy if need be. Finn Allen, the young batting sensation who debuted for New Zealand earlier this year after a great showing in the Super Smash has been ignored for the T20 World Cup, although he along with Colin de Grnadhomme, another probable for the T20 World Cup have been named in the T20I and ODI squads that will tour Bangladesh and Pakistan ahead of the T20 World Cup. New Zealand Cricket in a Press Release said, “Tom Latham will captain the side in Bangladesh and Pakistan, and the usual combination of skipper Kane Williamson and coach Gary Stead will resume duties for the T20 World Cup and the Test tour to India.” NZC chief executive David White was also confident that the squads selected for various tours including the T20 World Cup are good enough to acquit themselves in all situations. “As the BLACKCAPS proved in England earlier this year, we have good depth in the New Zealand game and I’m confident all the squads chosen will acquit themselves well,” White said. White also confirmed that the players part of the Indian Premier League will be available for the tournament when it resumes in September this year. “We’ve always tried to be realistic about the IPL and this particular issue is very much a one-off, caused by a unique set of circumstances,” he said. BLACKCAPS squad for ICC T20 World Cup and India T20s Kane Williamson (c), Todd Astle, Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert (wk), Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, *Adam Milne (injury cover) *Adam Milne has been selected as the 16th man and will join the team for the tournament but can only be called upon to replace a player in the squad in the event of an injury. Coaching Staff: Gary Stead, Shane Jurgensen, Luke Ronchi, (fourth coach TBA)

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From death bed to The Hundred: Nicole Harvey’s awe-inspiring fighting spirit

Nicole Harvey is now playing in The Hundred for Welsh Women and having played in all the five matches of the team till August 06, she has taken three wickets with her leg break. She did brilliant in the domestic T20 competition, the Charlotte Edwards cup for Western Storm to bag a Hundred contract with Fire. But it wasn’t always like that for Harvey. At one time in her life, she actually believed that she could not live anymore. “I honestly thought I was going to die. I’d even written a will because that’s how real it was. I certainly didn’t think that I’d ever play sport again,” Harvey told Storm website in July this year. But this statement was just the tip of the iceberg of what the 28-year-old went through during the second wave of the Covid-19 in the United Kingdom. Recounting her experiences, Harvey said, “On the 30th of August last year I became really ill. I was 32 weeks pregnant, and I hadn’t been feeling well for about a week. It got to the point where I couldn’t even lift my legs to get my trousers on.” “Within 40 hours of that, I was diagnosed with sepsis. I had a nephrostomy bag fitted to my right kidney. I was seriously ill in the ICU and they thought that I could die. It was pretty scary,” added the Storm player, who had not represented the team before this season. Harvey further explains that it got so worse that even the doctors lost hope and asked her husband to see her even when she was suffering from Covid-19. “It got so bad that they eventually let my husband in to see me despite the Covid restrictions. I had to have a C-section at 37 weeks due to complications and because I was so weak,” she said. But as the saying goes, it ain’t over till it actually is. So Nicole too refused to give and fought literally till her last breath. “I couldn’t even sit up, let alone walk for a while. Even in January this year, I couldn’t run. It’s been quite a whirlwind, but Jonty and I are here to tell the tale,” said the Cornwall born. But in her fight, she was not alone, there were many that fought alongside her and Nicole doesn’t forget to thank them enough. “My mum lived in my house for three months and slept on the floor because of Covid. She bed bathed me and got me in and out of bed so that my husband could carry on working,’ she said. Now part of the Fire and earlier having represented Somerset Women, Nicole also thanked her teams and support staff who have allowed her to carry her son along in every tournament. “They’ve allowed Jonty to be on the road with us and things like that. Everyone has just gone above and beyond to be supportive,” she said. It wasn’t easy for Nicole to fight back as she said, “When I first tried to run at the end of January, I couldn’t really do it and I just cried.” But instead of giving up, her near-death experience has made her more resilient and she did fight back. Ever since her comeback to cricket in June this year, she has taken 9 wickets in 10 games and wants to keep on contributing to all her teams as much as she can. “I just want to make good contributions to Somerset, Western Storm and Welsh Fire. I want to be someone who is a key part of the team. I want to keep getting fitter and stronger and improving my game. I want to learn from those around me and I’m looking forward to picking the brains of people like Sarah Taylor,” said Nicole. After all that she has been through, if there is anyone that could touch the heights that she/he wants to, it is Nicole Harvey.