Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
England is experiencing an unaccustomed summer of heatwaves with hosepipe bans, bleached parks and a national shortage of air-conditioning fitters.
So Grace Harris could be forgiven for cursing her luck after a rare rain delay derailed her and London Spirit’s innings, all but ending their chances of reaching the knock-out stages of this year’s Women’s Hundred.
In a welcome return to form Grace had brought up a 25-ball half-century powering Spirit to 1-89 off 50 balls against Leeds Sunrisers at Headingley.
Then the rain arrived. A lengthy break later Harris returned to the crease and was caught on the boundary second ball. In the second 50 balls they scored 6-47 to close on 7-136.
At the competition’s most batter-friendly ground it was unlikely to be enough and Leeds chased it down with two balls and five wickets to spare.
Their trio of Australians all contributed. Phoebe Litchfield, promoted to open in place of Jess Jonassen, hit 30 off 17 balls to kickstart the chase, Annabel Sutherland anchored it with an unbeaten 37 off 21, and Jonassen, coming in as a finisher at No.7, did just that with 13 not out off five balls.
After Spirit were inserted Harris took a while to get going, only facing three balls of the first 18, scoring a single. But then she launched Jonassen over her head for six. Four of the next eight balls she received went to the boundary prompting skipper Dani Gibson to bring on Victoria’s Sutherland.
Her first ball was gracefully dispatched back over her head for six, the third pulled behind square for four, by which stage Harris was scoring at two-a-ball.
At the other end England wicketkeeper-batter Amy Jones was also fizzing along but having been given a life on 16 when Sutherland dropped a sharp return chance was caught for 24 off 20 balls.
Harris went on to hit both Jonassen and Sutherland for four to notch her first half-century of this year’s tournament, in which she and Spirit have been under-par.
Then came the rain. Upon Spirit’s return Sutherland took two catches in the deep and bowled the dangerous Marizanne Kapp (18) as the innings petered away.
The malaise continued as Bryony Smith was dropped twice off the first four balls of Leeds’ innings. The fuming bowler, Kapp, then saw her second ball to Litchfield disappear for six.
The 23-year-old from NSW was in the mood and she took Leeds to 0-57 before attempting to pull Katie George into the Western Terrace only to be caught on the boundary by Kapp.
As with Harris’s dismissal, that presaged a flurry of wickets as Leeds lost three for two in six balls, including Smith for 27 (21).
But Sutherland and Gibson (25 off 24) steadied the innings and after Jonassen’s cameo Sutherland hit the winning runs with a six.
“Nerves of steel,” Sutherland said of Jonassen. “Jess came out with real clarity and she’s got a beautiful swing of the bat. It was nice to see a few go to the rope from her.
“Personally, I just feel pretty level. I feel like I’m coming into different situations and adapting pretty well. Hopefully we can win the next few and build some momentum.”
