An astonishing bowling performance from a high-class Manchester Originals attack saw them stroll to a facile seven-wicket win with 19 balls to spare to further their chances of progression as the Hundred women’s competition hots up.

With her side having elected to bowl first, England starlet Mahika Gaur backed up her spell against London Spirit, bowling 20 of the first 25 balls to leave Welsh Fire in disarray at 12 for 2. She saw the back of England team-mates Sophia Dunkley and Tammy Beaumont in a spell where she made the ball talk and finished with 2 for 10.

Incredibly, Gaur’s figures were not the best on display. Sophie Ecclestone was typically excellent, dismissing the dangerous Hayley Matthews and Georgia Elwiss while conceding just 11 runs from her allocation while the most economical figures of the afternoon went to Lauren Filler, who dismissed Sarah Bryce and Emily Windsor in successive balls to snuff out any chance of Welsh Fire posting a defendable target. She added the wicket of Jess Jonassen in the same set of five to return the remarkable figure of 3 for 8 in her 20 balls.

Kathryn Bryce took two wickets in the final set to finish with 2 for 10 as Fire ended with a hugely underwhelming 73 for 9.

When Originals batted, it was all about the win, Kathryn Bryce and Seren Smale taking their time to ensure there were no hiccups after the early dismissals of overseas stars Beth Mooney and Melie Kerr. Katherine Bryce was stumped late on by sister Sarah for a studied 45 off 41 with five boundaries but it was too little too late as the Originals made it two from four.

Meerkat Match Hero Gaur said: “It feels really good. It was a great effort by the bowlers. The conditions were good and it was swinging early so I’m really happy with that. The last game was so close; it just shows that when we play at our best, we can beat any team in this competition.”

Brief scores:
Manchester Originals Women  76 for 3 in 1 balls (Kathryn  Bryce 45, Seren Smale 20*; Hayley Matthews 1-20, Freya Davies 1-08, Jess Jonasen 1-10)  beat  Welsh Fire Women 73 for 9 in 100 balls (Hayley Matthews 22, Georgia Elwiss 11, Jess Jonasen 20; Mahika Gaur 2-20, Sophie Ecclestone 2-11, Lauren Filer 3-08, Kathryn Bryce 2-07) by seven wickets

[Cricinfo]