August 11, 2024

Nat Sciver-Brunt (again) Keeps Trent Rockets in Top 3 hunt

Alexa Stonehouse Shines with the Ball as Rockets Pile Misery on Defending Champions

Trent Rockets 155 for 7 (Sciver-Brunt 60, Bell 3-36) defeated Southern Brave 131 for 6 (Tryon 47*, Stonehouse 2-10)1029

Nat Sciver-Brunt delivered yet another batting masterclass, complemented by a brilliant opening spell from left-arm seamer Alexa Stonehouse, to keep Trent Rockets’ hopes alive in this year’s Hundred with two crucial games remaining.

For defending champions Southern Brave, their tough season continues with just one win to their name, showing no signs of improvement.

Sciver-Brunt’s unbeaten 60 off 37 balls, her seventh half-century in the competition, propelled the Rockets to a formidable 155 for 7. The England star also surpassed Danni Wyatt to become the tournament’s all-time leading female run-scorer, amassing 933 runs and closing in on the milestone of 1,000 career runs in The Hundred.

Sciver-Brunt Leads Rockets to Victory as Southern Brave Fall Short

Nat Sciver-Brunt received crucial support from Grace Scrivens, who contributed a brisk 36 off 24 balls, along with valuable cameos from Ash Gardner and Heather Graham. However, it was the death-bowling brilliance of Lauren Bell, who claimed three wickets in her final set of five, that prevented the Rockets from posting an even larger total.

In their chase, Southern Brave faced an uphill battle after Wyatt and Maia Bouchier both fell to Alexa Stonehouse within the first five deliveries. Stonehouse’s delivery to dismiss Bouchier—a stunning inswinger that threaded through the gate—set the tone for the Brave’s struggles.

Georgie Adams provided some resistance with a spirited 27, only to be undone by a superb boundary throw from Katie George. Smriti Mandhana looked in sublime touch, scoring 42 off 27 balls, but when she mistimed a Graham off-break to backward point, the Brave were left reeling at 82 for 4 after 69 balls.

Chloe Tryon’s powerful late-order hitting, including an 86-meter six into the groundstaff’s shed, briefly threatened to turn the tide. However, the Rockets held their nerve to secure a comfortable 24-run victory.

MeerKat Match Hero Nat Sciver-Brunt acknowledged it was a team effort with contributions all the way through: “Their batters put us under the pump and made us go through a few plans with the ball but we found the right one in the end, and we held our nerve with our skill.

“I had a good partnership with Grace Scrivens, we’d highlighted the need for that after the first few games so we were really pleased with how it went today.

“After the first four games we felt pretty down – three close games and not coming out on the right side of it, so it takes some getting up for the next game, but we’ve come back really strongly and with two games to go who knows what can happen.”

BCB Set to Meet New Sports Head as Calls for Reform Grow Louder

ICC to participating boards: “Contingency host options within the Asian region are being considered – tournament dates to remain the same”

Representatives from the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) are expected to meet with Asif Mahmud, the youth and sports adviser to Bangladesh’s interim government, on Sunday to discuss the upcoming women’s T20 World Cup, scheduled to take place in October. However, the bigger issue circulating in Dhaka’s cricketing circles is the future composition of the BCB and whether the new government might reform the board.

Many in Dhaka speculate that similar to 2007, the interim government could appoint an ad hoc committee to oversee the BCB’s operations. According to sources, the ICC would accept such a committee without direct government interference, mainly if elections are held later. The ICC would refrain from intervening unless there were clear signs of government interference, at which point an investigation and possible action could follow. Recently, the ICC suspended Sri Lanka Cricket from November 2023 to January 2024 due to similar concerns over government influence.

Should a new board be established, the ICC will require the BCB to appoint a representative to attend all ICC meetings. This situation mirrored when a Supreme Court-appointed committee of administrators took over the BCCI, during which the CEO represented the BCCI at ICC meetings.

‘Contingency Host Options Within Asia Being Considered’

On Saturday, the ICC sent a mail to the teams’ boards participating in the women’s World Cup, saying, “The ICC is continuing to monitor the situation in Bangladesh and is working closely with BCB. Contingency host options within the Asian region are being considered. In case it is not possible to stage the event in Bangladesh, ICC will be in contact with the Board should the question of relocation need to be considered.”

The ICC has also said that the tournament dates will remain the same.

The BCB headquarters in Mirpur remains operational, with day-to-day activities managed primarily by its staff under the leadership of Chief Executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury. However, keyboard directors, including President Nazmul Hassan, have been absent since August 5, following Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s resignation and departure to India, which marked the end of the Awami League’s 15-year rule. Many BCB directors have direct or indirect ties to the Awami League, adding to the current instability.

With an ICC event on the horizon, the BCB’s ability to function effectively is compromised without its entire board of directors. A BCB director, speaking anonymously to thewicketinsider, expressed doubts that many of his colleagues would return in the coming days, raising concerns about the board’s capacity to manage upcoming challenges.

“The BCB is an elected body but if there’s any directive from the government about a change in the BCB, we have to accept it,” he said. “I don’t think many directors will appear in the BCB. If a meeting is called, the number could be five or eight [out of 24].”