Alex Davies scored 53 not-out off 41 along with Ross Whiteley’s 30 off 21 as Southern Brave men defeated Trent Rockets by six wickets. Smriti Mandhana smashed 57* off 31 in Brave women’s fifth consecutive win.
Trent Rockets will have to wait more to confirm their spot in the men’s Hundred playoffs as the Brave, who are out of the playoff contention, played party spoilers on September 25.
Paul Stirling bowled brilliantly up front, picking dangerous Alex Hales and conceding just 10 in his 15 balls. Dawid Malan was outstanding on a deck that wasn’t quite made for batting, smashing 59 off 41. Samit Patel played a short cameo of 15-ball 21 while Colin Munro added 16 off 10 at the back end.
Rockets were in a position to push for a score above 150 at one stage, but James Fuller and Michael Hogan did an exceptional job to restrict them to 138/6. The former claimed 2 for 18 in his full quota, while the latter bagged 2 for 20 in his 15.
Sam Cook cleaned up Stirling for a five-ball duck while Chris Wood had James Vince drag on for a golden duck, reducing Brave to 9 for 2 in 14 balls. Alex Davies and Quinton de Kock then tried to rebuild the innings. De Kock could quite get going and was eventually dismissed for 24 off 23.
Davies and Whiteley then added 71 runs for the fourth wicket in 38 balls to put Brave in a strong position. Tim David smashed 19 off 6 to wrap up the win.
Earlier in the women’s competition, the Brave continued their undefeated streak, hammering Rockets by 10 wickets to register the fifth win of the season.
Lauren Bell was a menace with the ball, snaring 4 for 10 in her full quota while Amanda-Jade Wellington picked 3 for 18 as they restricted Rockets to just 88/8.
Smriti Mandhana then blasted an unbeaten 57 off 31 with nine fours and two sixes whereas Danni Wyatt scored 36* off 25 on their way to a 10-wicket victory in 56 balls.
