Sophia Dunkley responded to being dropped from the England squad in the best possible way with her stunning performance for South East Stars in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy hundred, despite scoring 130 against Northern Diamonds, who suffered a three-game losing streak.
Dunkley was left out of England’s ODI and T20 squads against Pakistan later this month, with the hope that she could rediscover her best form in domestic cricket… and she did, with 136 balls Scored 130 goals.
Dunkley has hit just a half-century in her last 22 games for England across all formats since the start of 2023, and despite often opening the bat, she returned to her best form here, hitting 8 in the process Boundary and 1 six boundaries in a sparkling century.
But with three balls left and the Stars needing eight more to win, Dunkley ran out of steam when he inexplicably failed to ground his bat as running back for his second run.
Bethan Miles ultimately failed to clear the line on her final delivery, meaning the Stars fell well short of chasing the women’s A world record of 312 laps.
Dunkley said after the game: “Such a result is very difficult, but everyone has worked hard to achieve this result.
“It’s only a few borders away, so it’s not that far. We gave ourselves the best chance of getting into it [the final over].
“What can you do to get close to that in three rounds? Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t.”
Jones’ performance in winning cause as Sunrisers beat Vipers to top
Elsewhere, another incredible hundred central spark Captain Eve Jones proved herself to be a match-winner as she lifted her bat in the dying moments to seal a stunning victory thunder At Old Trafford.
Jones scored an unbeaten 136, the highest score by a woman on the field, to lead her team to a thrilling wicket victory that left the Sparks needing 11 more runs until the final over. The win still eludes the Sparks.
Earlier, Emma Lamb and fellow opener Seren Smale combined to score 140 in the opening over – Thunder’s first ever in the tournament A hundred for the first wicket – while Lamb scored 107 – the hosts posted a seemingly formidable score of 284-7.
But Sparks skipper Jones was the hero of the hour, hitting the winning run in the last over to seal them with the help of Australian batsman Courtney Webb’s crucial 40 An exciting victory.
SunriseerFlo Miller’s unbeaten knock of 47 off 59 balls ensured victory for his team and he southern viper In Radlett.
Defending champions Vipers looked the clear favorites after holding the hosts to 138-6 against a target of 212, with spinner Charli Knott taking 3-35.
But the 20-year-old Miller joined Jo Gardner (19) to take the seventh wicket of 60 off 71 balls and kept his cool to take the win and secure the Sunrisers The team achieved its fourth win of the tournament with three goals remaining.
At Trent Bridge, South African all-rounder Nadine de Klerk shot a stunning unbeaten 106, flame Counterattack to defeat the visitor western storm It consists of four wickets.
The home team looked to win by 276 runs but fell to 137-6 after Natasha Wraith scored an impressive career-best 73 in a storming innings. Fifth loss in six games.
But 24-year-old de Klerk turned things around with a brilliant, unstoppable 139-run partnership with 21-year-old wicketkeeper Ella Claridge (No. 64) in women’s regional cricket Achieved her maiden half-century while the Flames finished with 12 balls to spare.
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