All-round Rockets cruise to six-wicket win to keep campaign afloat

Meg Lanning's 35-ball 45 went in vain as Trent Rockets made light work of the 110-run chase, overhauling Oval Invincibles' total with six wickets in hand and 16 balls to spare at the Oval, on Thursday (August 21).

Put in to bat, the hosts struggled to get a move on courtesy Alex Stonehouse's miserly spell early on. Even after Lauren Winfield-Hill departed early, Lanning and Alice Capsey stitched a steady 47-run stand. Lanning and Marizanne Kapp hit three boundaries in quick succession, but the duo fell to Ash Gardner in a space of three balls.

Thereafter, the expected acceleration did not follow. Barring a six by Paige Schofield, there were no noteworthy big hits coming along as the hosts were restricted to 109 for 8.

In response, Bryony Smith and Grace Scrivens provided a solid start, blazing away to a 35-ball 51-run stand. Sciverns dispatched Sophia Smale for four boundaries in the fourth set, and Smith continued the aggression against Kapp in the next.

Invincibles pulled back with four wickets in quick succession, reducing the visitors from 51 for no loss to 75 for 4, but that wasn't to derail them from the chase. Jodie Grewcock and Heather Graham took the attack to Kalea Moore and Capsey, hitting a couple of boundaries off each, and helped the side over the line without much trouble

Brief Scores: Oval Invincibles 109/7 in 100 balls (Meg Lanning 45, Paige Scholfield 16*; Ash Gardner 2-10) lost to Trent Rockets 113/4 in 84 balls (Grace Scrivens 34, Bryony Smith 24; Amanda Jade-Wellington 1-15) by 6 wickets.