Oval Invincibles 127 for 3 (Scholfield 48*, Athapaththu 33) beat Manchester Originals 125 for 4 (Wolvaardt 38) by seven wickets
Oval Invincibles returned to winning ways with a comfortable seven-wicket win over Manchester Originals in the Women's Hundred at Emirates Old Trafford.
An unbeaten 67-run stand between Paige Scholfield and Marizanne Kapp from 37 balls took charge of the run chase after the hosts managed 125 for 4. In-form Scholfield crashed 48 from 27 balls after opener Chamari Athapaththu laid the foundation with 33 from 36 balls.
Invincibles were equally as impressive in the field, highlighted by a host of sharp catches, with Aussie leg-spinner Amanda-Jade Wellington the pick of the bowlers with 2 for 22.
Both teams were looking to bounce back after disappointing results on Sunday. The Originals lost to cross-Pennines rivals Northern Superchargers, while Invincibles arguably let one slip in their derby draw with London Spirit to mark a rare two-game winless run, Tuesday's result putting the Oval outfit in second place on the points table.
After a slow start, which saw the Originals manage 25 without loss after the powerplay, openers Laura Wolvaardt and Beth Mooney found the rope seven times in 15 balls.
Mooney, the No. 2 draft pick, was just getting going when Seren Smale held a sharp chance at short third off Ryana MacDonald-Gay, who snapped up an even better catch at mid-on moments later to remove the competition's second-highest runscorer Woolvardt.
Originals started to slow, they went 34 balls without a boundary, before skipper Sophie Ecclestone added some much-needed late power to finish unbeaten on 26 from 15 balls.
Invincibles set about proving that was not nearly enough on a good pitch with Sri Lanka star Athapaththu and captain Lauren Winfield-Hill adding 48 for the first wicket.
Alice Monaghan removed Winfield-Hill and Alice Capsey in quick succession and when Athapaththu was lbw to Kathryn Bryce there was work to do at 60 for 3.
Scholfield ensured any nerves were short-lived though as she found the rope on seven occasions, while Kapp added 19 from 11 to power the Invincibles home with seven balls to spare.
Meerkat Match Hero Scholfield said: "I really enjoyed it. We've had a couple of tough games in a row. You learn more from losing than winning and we went away and studied what was going on and I think we were more disciplined today.
"We just spoke about nudging her (Sophie Ecclestone) around and getting rotation of strike going and then going after the other bowlers."
