Birmingham Phoenix 139 for 3 beat Trent Rockets 136 for 7 by three runs
Australian superstar Ellyse Perry starred with the bat and in the field as Phoenix ended their 12-match losing streak to beat the Trent Rockets in The Hundred.
On a sunny afternoon in Nottingham, Birmingham Phoenix won the toss and chose to bat, making a steady start, with Sophie Devine and Sterre Kalis going at a run a ball for an opening partnership of 32. The introduction of Alana King saw the first breakthrough for the Rockets, trapping Devine LBW for 17.
That brought Phoenix Captain Perry to the crease who proceeded to quickly up the run-rate alongside Kalis. Perry raced to 41 from her first 20 balls and was making the most of the batting conditions, whilst also riding some luck in being dropped on the boundary, in what ended up being an impressive 66 from 34 balls.
Her partnership with Kalis put on 102 from 60, including 11 fours and four sixes, with every one of those sixes coming from the bat of Perry.
Amy Jones arrived at the crease with Phoenix on 134 with four balls to go, and with Kalis, scrambled 5 more runs to leave the Phoenix innings at 139 from their 100 balls, with Jones being run out on the final delivery. That left Kalis on 48 not out, with Phoenix setting a competitive but chaseable total.
Perry remained in the action in the field, firstly taking the wicket of Scrivens (6) and then catching Bryony Smith with a fantastic running effort at long-on, with Rockets at 58 for 2.
Nat Sciver-Brunt came to the wicket in fine form and looked composed from the outset, reaching her sixth half-century in The Hundred with a powerful lofted drive off Hannah Baker, off just 33 balls.
Rockets looked well in contention at that point but the demise of Ash Gardner, then Sciver-Brunt three balls later dragged Phoenix back into the game.
Rockets needed 27 from the last 10 balls but the game wasn't done yet.
Heather Graham hit four boundaries, including a huge six off the 98th ball, to leave Rockets needing seven from the last two balls. Wraith was run out on the penultimate delivery going for the second, leaving Graham needing six to win from the final ball.
To the delight of the Phoenix team, Graham could only manage two, taking her to a valiant 30 from 12 balls, but confirming Birmingham Phoenix's first win in 13 attempts.
Meerkat Match Hero Perry said: "I'm chuffed for the girls. We played with a lot of spirit today, played really positively, and it is nice to get over the line in a tight one at the end.
"It took us a while to get going, but once you were in there was a breeze, so it was easy to find the pockets in the ground and build a bit of momentum with the bat. The total felt defendable, but they chased well, Heather at the end there was really unlucky not to bring it home for them, so to hold our nerve at the end was awesome."
"I'm stoked for the girls; it is a great group and they play with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. You can't worry about last season, this is a different squad, but it is something that has been spoken about around the group by other people. Hopefully people stop talking about that [12 in a row] now."
