Perrin stars in modest chase to leave Rockets winless

Davina Perrin's unbeaten 72 off 40 balls outshone Ashleigh Gardner's 32-ball 61 as Northern Superchargers climbed to the top of the Women's Hundred table with an emphatic eight-wicket win over Trent Rockets. Gardner was the backbone of the Rockets' innings, but with little support from the rest, they could only muster 128/8. Perrin then powered the chase, smashing 12 fours in her blistering knock, as the Superchargers wrapped up victory with 21 balls to spare, leaving the Rockets winless after two games.

Opting to bat, the Rockets endured a nightmare start, slipping to 5/3 inside the first 20 deliveries. Grace Ballinger bowled 10 on the trot, conceding just three runs off the bat in that spell, while Bryony Smith was run out in the midst of the squeeze. Linsey Smith then had Natasha Wraith slicing to cover-point, before Kate Cross removed Grace Scrivens with a catch at mid-off. Gardner and Nat Sciver-Brunt finally gave the innings some momentum, finding much-needed boundaries. Sciver-Brunt cleared the ropes off Ballinger, while Gardner kept the scoreboard moving with regular fours. Their 42-run stand, however, was cut short when Sciver-Brunt fell for 15, failing to clear the fence off Cross. At the halfway mark, the Rockets were 53/4.

Skipper Gardner, carrying the bulk of the innings, kept the boundaries coming - including three of them in four deliveries off Cross. She brought up a 26-ball fifty with a four off Georgia Wareham, and added a 10th to her tally with a stylish stroke off Ballinger. But her fine knock came to an end soon after, caught in the deep off the same bowler while attempting to put away a short delivery, leaving the Rockets at 94/5 with 26 balls left. Emma Jones struck a boundary before falling to Cross, while Annabel Sutherland dismissed Heather Graham. Alana King managed four twos before being run out off the final delivery, as the Rockets closed with a total shy of 130.

In stark contrast to the Rockets, the Superchargers were off to a flyer, with their openers raising a fifty stand in 32 deliveries. Perrin did most of the scoring, unleashing a flurry of boundaries after an economical opening from Alexa Stonehouse, who gave away only five runs in her first 10 balls. Perrin struck seven fours in her first 25 deliveries, while Alice Davidson-Richards played second fiddle, rotating the strike. In their 62-run partnership, Davidson-Richards contributed just 11 off 20 and her outing was ended by Graham. Perrin then added another boundary to bring up a 28-ball half-century, guiding the Superchargers to 67/1 in their first 50 balls.

Phoebe Litchfield didn't take long to get going, striking a hat-trick of boundaries off King. Cassidy McCarthy was hit for three fours - one by Perrin and two by Litchfield - but the latter was bowled attempting for another. The momentum, however, stayed firmly with the Superchargers as Perrin struck two boundaries off Graham to take the team past 100 in 62 balls, followed by two more from Sutherland off Kirstie Gordon. Perrin and Sutherland then added a boundary apiece off King to seal a comfortable win for the Superchargers.

Brief scores: Trent Rockets 128/8 in 100 balls (Ashleigh Gardner 61; Kate Cross 3-31) lost to Northern Superchargers 129/2 in 79 balls (Davina Perrin 72*; Heather Graham 1-22) by 8 wickets.