MATCH REPORT
Follow UsIt took her a while but Shafali Verma finally stamped her authority in The Hundred Women's Competition. The young batting sensation from India smoked 76* off 42 deliveries and propelled Birmingham Phoenix to their second win of the season.
Chasing 128, the 17-year-old put on an unbeaten stand of 132 runs with Evelyn Jones (35-ball 52) and guided her team to a thumping 10-wicket win over Welsh Fire at Edgbaston on Monday (August 9).
Having managed scores of 13, 6, 22, 14 and 16 in her first five innings, Verma finally came to the party on Monday and smashed nine fours and two maximums to help Birmingham end their three-match losing streak.
Verma got to her fifty in just 22 balls and found solid support from Jones as the two batters got the job done with 24 deliveries to spare. Having lost four of their six encounters, Birmingham are still placed at No. 5.
Verma had only scored 71 runs in her previous five innings for the Phoenix but managed to double her tally last night.
"It has been a tough tournament for us so far. We're so happy to get the win - our last game at home. I think Shafali was brilliant. We all knew what she could do and all the girls are very pleased for her," said Birmingham skipper Amy Jones.
Earlier, Welsh's top-four batters Bryony Smith (36-ball 38), Hayley Matthews (11-ball 13), Georgia Redmayne (14-ball 17) and Sarah Taylor (11-ball 16) got good starts but couldn't convert it into something big. Alice Macleod too slammed 19* off 13 deliveries but Welsh kept losing wickets at the end and fell 10-15 runs short. a
