The Northern Superchargers, led by a stellar show from Zak Crawley, Dawid Malan, and Harry Brook, outplayed Birmingham Phoenix with bat and ball to claim a 36-run victory in Leeds on Friday.
Asked to bat, Superchargers piled up a daunting 193/5 in 100 balls. Crawley and Malan gave them a flying start with a 67-run opening stand in just 31 balls. Crawley smashed six fours and two sixes in his 23-ball blitz, while Malan’s fluent 58 from 34 balls kept the scoreboard racing.
Brook added late fireworks with a typically audacious 31 off just 14 deliveries, including a first-ball scoop for six. With Michael Pepper’s 28 also contributing, the hosts scored 40 in the final 20 balls to push past 190.
Rashid and Potts Seal the Deal
The Phoenix looked briefly threatening when Liam Livingstone and Jacob Bethell counter-attacked with an 80-run stand in 42 balls. But Adil Rashid’s guile proved decisive. The leg-spinner dismissed Bethell with a sharp return catch, then outfoxed Livingstone to finish with two crucial wickets.
On a flat pitch with a lightning outfield, Rashid spun a web.
Earlier, Matthew Potts tore into the Phoenix top order, claiming 3-26 and ensuring the visitors were always chasing the game. Phoenix eventually finished well short, handing the Superchargers a commanding win.
With three victories in four matches, Andrew Flintoff’s side has surged to the top of the men’s table with 12 points.
Women’s Clash: Litchfield Leads the Charge
The day belonged equally to the Superchargers Women, who coasted to an eight-wicket win with 26 balls to spare, also climbing to the top of the points table.
Set 117 after Phoenix collapsed to 116/6, the hosts breezed home thanks to Phoebe Litchfield’s unbeaten 50 off 25 balls. The Australian left-hander, after a quiet start to the competition, came alive by dismantling spinner Hannah Baker with three consecutive boundaries to settle the chase.
Partnered by Annabel Sutherland, Litchfield took her team over the line comfortably, despite a late reprieve on 48 when dropped in the deep.
Phoenix Collapse, Superchargers Spin Control
Phoenix’s innings had begun brightly at 44-1, but their momentum evaporated in a chaotic spell. A freak run-out of captain Ellyse Perry, when Annabel Sutherland deflected a straight drive onto the stumps, sparked a collapse of five wickets in 20 balls.
From 59/6, they were rescued by Em Arlott and Sterre Kalis, whose unbeaten 57-run stand set a new record for the highest seventh-wicket partnership in Women’s Hundred history.
Yet the total proved far too modest. Superchargers’ spinners — Lucy Higham (2-21) and Linsey Smith (2-18) — had already applied the squeeze, and Litchfield ensured the target was brushed aside.
Litchfield: “Runs Are Good Fun, Wins Are Better”
Litchfield, named Player of the Match, credited her bowlers for setting up the win.
“They (our spinners) just hit their lengths and kept the stumps in play. We backed them up in the field. Our spinners have done wonders for us over the years, and they did it again today.”
Scoring runs is good fun. Getting another win is equally special. Every time we play here at Headingley, we know it’ll be a good pitch. You saw that today with the way we all batted.
