Welsh Fire Women vs Manchester Super Giants Women Match 21 Full Commentary

The players are back on the field. The camera pans on Sophie Ecclestone who gives the fans a smile. Good to see, despite such a shoddy batting performance. It will be Sarah Bryce and Georgia Voll to open up for the Fire. Grace Ballinger has the new ball in her hand. Voll to face. Here we go. 86 needed to win in 120 balls.

... THE RUN CHASE ...

Tricky chase? Never judge the pitch until both sides have batted and bowled on it goes the saying. Hearing Graham speak, it does appear that the new ball could be a big threat for the Fire batters. Additionally, the conditions are switching from being overcast to sunny and back to overcast, with plenty of breeze blowing across. Kumar Sangakkara informed on air that the average winning first innings score at this venue is 121. The Powerplay would be the key.

Tells a lot about the confidence - The experienced HEATHER GRAHAM, of the Welsh Fire Women, is up for a chat with the broadcasters. On being asked about talking about the pitch and weather conditions, Graham details that the pitch had little bit in it with the new ball doing a lot. Credits the way Grace Potts bowled and also adds that she (Potts) has been unbelievably consistent in this season. Further mentions that as the game progressed the ball held a little bit more and feels happy to have executed their plans to perfection. Drawing confidence from the game against Southern Brave, Heather says that it is well documented that they have been pretty much on the wrong side, by losing a few close games and adds that win against the Brave gave them a huge amount of confidence. Says to come out and bowl the way they did tells a lot about the confidence in the group right now. On how much does playing domestic cricket for Durham help here, HG says she is not used to playing in such cool conditions back home in Perth but says playing in Durham has been an amazing experience. Adds that it is nice to get used to the conditions before the start of the tournament.

In a hurry? To an onlooker, that's what it seemed like looking at the batting of Manchester Super Giants Women. Barring Smriti Mandhana, no one tried to assess the conditions. Only three partnerships crossed 10 with the highest being 15. Additionally, only 8 fours were hit, with the sole six coming off the bat of Mandhana. Sorry to be harsh, but it was not the smartest cricket played by the Super Giants.

Just the 5 elements - Normally, in a T20 and in the Hundred too, we usually see 6 bowlers being utilized by nearly every bowling unit. But the Fire were bowling so well that new captain Georgia Wareham did not even have to think about her 6th bowler. Her troops razed down the Super Giants to 25/4 in the Powerplay, and did not look back at all. Orla Prendergast set the tone early, getting Meg Lanning for a golden duck, on her very second delivery, She ended up with bowling figures of 4/18, narrowly missing out on registering the first 5-fer of this season. The others were excellent with their lines and lengths too, not conceding too many bad balls at all.

Choke slam - That's the best way to describe it, isn't it? 85 runs in 100 balls, with just four batters reaching double digits. Welsh breathed fire and just did not take their foot off the gas for even one moment.

Final set. It will be Heather Graham to finish it off. 2/10 in 15 balls so far.

Bex Tyson is the last batter in, replacing Grace Ballinger.

Grace Ballinger walks in next, at number 10, replacing Richa Ghosh.

Despite being on top, it seems as if Welsh Fire Women are behind on time. They are trying to rush through their sets. Orla Prendergast will bowl out. 3/12 in 15 balls so far.

Prendergast, Graham and Smale. These are the three bowlers with one set remaining each. Only thing to ascertain is the order. It will be Sophia Smale first up. 0/8 in 15 balls so far.

Fight to be in the top 3 - This win propels Welsh Fire Women to the fourth spot, with 12 points, while Manchester Super Giants Women are still on third, fairly comfortably ahead of the teams below them. The Fire are getting some confidence seeping through, beating two sides back-to-back in the table above them while the Super Giants have now suffered their second loss in three games. Momentum is such a big thing in this format. The contest from the Women's game ends but the Men's game is just around the corner, with play scheduled to start at 2 pm GMT. But our buildup has already begun. So do hop into that matchcentre. ADIOS! TAKE CARE!

PLAYER OF THE MATCH - Welsh Fire Women's ORLA PRENDERGAST is given the award for her stunning bowling display of 4/18 in 20 balls. She says that she really enjoyed her performance and calls it a great end for her side, stressing that it is important to get those 4 points. On the plans being forced to change because of the conditions, Prendergast smiles and admits, saying that she struggled with the strong breeze and tried to keep the ball at the stumps. Credits Grace Potts for setting the tone and giving little to the batters to work with. Adds that got her side going and the confidence seeped in. On the close finish, Orla smiles again and says that her side should never have lost so many wickets but credits Manchester for bowling well. However, she is quick to add that her team won and that's all that matters. On Welsh's chances of finishing in the top 3, OP says that they have been enjoying their cricket over the past few days and philosophically states that things that are supposed to happen will happen. Ends by saying that their hopes are high though.

Too low a total - Earlier in the day, after being asked to bat first, Manchester Super Giants Women found themselves up against it, struggling to bat in blustery conditions. They could not even muster run-a-ball, which could have actually ended up being matchwinning on this deck. They stumbled to 85/9, with Orla Prendergast running through their batting lineup with a 4-fer.

Harakiri - That's the way the Welsh Fire Women's batting ended up performing. Despite chasing a small target, they could never get on top of the bowling. Every time a batter looked set, she ended up getting dismissed and towards the end, the batters just kept throwing their wickets away. Heather Graham used her experience though to guide her team past the finish line.

Fiery bowling performance - Well, it was Welsh Fire who were batting but Manchester Super Giants Women fought with all the fire. They endured a wicketless Powerplay but did not concede too many runs with the new ball, keeping themselves in the hunt. Grace Ballinger set the tone early on while Sophie Ecclestone stood out, picking up 3 wickets, also being on a hattrick at one stage. Towards the end, Kathryn Bryce's stunning 10-ball performance nearly helped the Super Giants snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat.

Superb captaincy - Have to don our hats to Meg Lanning. She just did not have enough runs on the board but she made the Welsh sweat it out to chase the total down. Unlike the belief that we should always use our best bowlers upfront while defending a small total, Lanning chose to mix and match her bowling options. She was so good at it that the Fire batters never could settle in against one bowler. Additionally, Lanning's bowlers supported her well and even though victory could not be attained, they can be proud of the way they fought.

CLIFFHANGER! We didn't expect that, did we? It was not the pitch. The blustery conditions made batting look way more difficult and in a game where both batting sides erred in execution and planning, the Fire just about manage to get home.

Should be the final set of the match. Mady Villiers will bowl. 1/19 in 15 balls so far.

Bryce to continue? Undoubtedly!

Rhianna Southby walks in next, at number 9, replacing Niamh Holland.

Niamh Holland walks in next at number 8, replacing Grace Thompson.

Kathryn Bryce to give it a shot now. Bowler number 7.

Panic time? Welsh Fire Women are playing some indifferent cricket at the moment. Mady Villiers is back on. 1/11 in 10 balls so far.