Birmingham Phoenix notched the second highest total in the history of The Hundred in the women’s competition, 161, as they beat Welsh Fire by 19 runs at a blisteringly hot Sophia Gardens.
After a slowish start in which they were scoring at a run a ball in the first 20, they picked up the pace to take 22 runs off the next set of five balls from Annabel Sutherland.
In the end, knocks of 48 from skipper Sophie Devine, 58 from Elyse Perry and a run a ball 29 from Sophie Molineux helped them reach 161-5 to set the home side a massive task. Skipper Tammy Beaumont led the charge with a 47 run opening partnership with Hayley Matthews.
Matthews hammered 20 off 15 balls, while Beaumont notched 39 of 34 before she was stumped by Amy Jones off opposing skipper Sophie Devine. Despite going down by 19 runs, the Fire went on to bag their highest score in the competition with 142-5.
