Sophia Dunkley responded to England’s loss in the best way possible with a stunning hundred for the South East Stars in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, although her 130 against the Northern Diamonds earned a painful three-run defeat.
Dunkely was left out of England’s two ODI and T20 squads scheduled to face Pakistan later that month in the hope that she would rediscover her best form in domestic cricket… and that’s exactly what she did, hitting 130 scored from 136 balls.
Since the start of 2023, Dunkley has only reached a half-century in her last 22 England caps across all formats, despite opening the batting line-up regularly, but here she was back to her best, scoring eight boundaries and one six over the course of her career. Border sparkling century.
But with three balls remaining and the Stars needing eight more to win, Dunkley was thrown out when she inexplicably failed to put her bat on the ground and ran back for a second run.
Bethan Miles was then ultimately unable to hit a boundary off the final delivery, meaning the Stars fell agonizingly short of what would have been a women’s List A world record chase of 312.
Dunkely said after the game: “It was pretty hard to finish like that but it was a good effort from everyone to get this result.”
“It was just a few boundaries, so it wasn’t that far. We gave ourselves the best chance at the beginning.” [the final over].
“What can you do to get that close within three runs? Some days it happens, some days it doesn’t.”
Jones sounds victorious | Sunrisers beat Vipers and are at the top
Elsewhere, another incredible hundred goals were scored Central Sparks Skipper Eve Jones proved game-changing as she carried her bat in a remarkable last-gasp win against the team thunder at Old Trafford.
Jones’ unbeaten 136 – the highest score by a woman at the ground – led her side to a thrilling three-wicket win, overtaking Sparks in the final over that left them needing 11 more runs.
Earlier, Emma Lamb and fellow opener Seren Smale had an opening partnership of 140 – Thunder’s first-ever century stand for the first wicket in the competition – as Lamb scored 107 and the hosts posted a seemingly impressive score of 284-7.
But Sparks captain Jones was the hero of the hour, supported by a crucial knock of 40 from Australian batsman Courtney Webb as she scored the winning runs in the final over to seal the thrilling win.
Sunrise‘ Flo Miller smashed an unbeaten 47 from 59 balls to secure victory and top spot in the table after a back-and-forth against them Southern vipers at Radlett.
Defending champions Vipers looked clear favorites after reducing the home side to 138-6 to reach their target of 212 runs, with off-spinner Charli Knott taking 3-35.
But 20-year-old Miller shared a match-winning seventh-wicket stand of 60 off 71 with Jo Gardner (19) and kept her cool to score the winner, securing the Sunrisers’ fourth win of the tournament with three balls to spare Ending .
At Trent Bridge, South African all-rounder Nadine de Klerk scored a magnificent unbeaten 106 The flame fought back to beat the visitors Western storm through four wickets.
Chasing 276 for victory, the home side appeared to be heading for their fifth defeat in six games as they slipped to 137-6 after Natasha Wraith’s impressive career best of 73 in the Storm innings.
But 24-year-old De Klerk turned things around in a magnificent, unbroken 139-run partnership with 21-year-old wicketkeeper Ella Claridge (64), who celebrated her first half-century in women’s regional cricket as the Blaze won with 12 balls left.
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