CLARKE’S TOO HOT FOR FIRE
JOE CLARKE and Phil Salt put on 94 as MANCHESTER ORIGINALS MEN secured their second win of The Hundred with a seven-wicket victory over WELSH FIRE in Cardiff.
The Fire won the toss and chose to bat, setting a target of 151 to win thanks to some lateorder hitting from Leus du Plooy and Matt Critchley.
Clarke, making 58 from 31 balls, and Salt made the chase look very straightforward and the Originals chased it down with five balls to spare.
By the time Clarke was caught on the boundary off Ryan Higgins, the Originals needed 57 runs from 50 balls and all the pressure had gone.
Salt fell to Critchley, but Colin Munro was there at the end, finishing on 33 from 27.
Earlier in the day, WELSH FIRE WOMEN claimed their first win of The Hundred thanks to an excellent effort in the field and an impressive innings of 71 from Hayley Matthews.
Put into bat, MANCHESTER ORIGINALS reached 120-6 as Sophie Ecclestone top-scored with an unbeaten 31.
Matthews got the chase off to the perfect start and the Fire reached their target with nine wickets and 12 balls to spare.
Alice Davidson-Richards helped NORTHERN SUPERCHARGERS WOMEN maintain their winning run with a tigerish defence of a 110 target against OVAL INVINCIBLES at Emerald Headingley.
Their 109-8 looked below par despite a sluggish pitch, with Davidson-Richards top-scoring with 42 off 30 balls.
She then returned a brilliant 2-17 from 20 balls with her pace-off seamers, defending 10 off the last five as the visitors finished on 105-4.