Northern Superchargers soared to the top of the women’s Hundred table with a commanding victory over Birmingham Phoenix at a sun-drenched Headingley.

A third win in four matches for Hollie Armitage’s team was built around a miserly performance from their slow bowlers, Lucy Higham and Linsey Smith who each picked up two wickets to stem the Phoenix’s flow.

Their intervention was perfectly timed, after the visitors had begun brightly. On 44 for 1 from 30 balls with Emma Lamb and Marie Kelly going well, Phoenix lost five wickets in 20 deliveries, with captain Ellyse Perry’s unfortunate run out – Annabel Sutherland diverting a straight drive from Kelly onto the stumps at the non-striker’s end – summing up the Phoenix’s misfortune.

From 59-6, Em Arlott and Sterre Kalis rebuilt the innings impressively, putting on an unbeaten 57, the highest stand for the seventh wicket in the history of the Hundred’s women’s competition.

On a beautiful batting track, it nonetheless felt under par. The Superchargers openers, Davina Perrin and Alice Davidson-Richards, were both dropped early on – Perrin before she had scored when Hannah Baker palmed a pull shot over the rope for six – and their stand of 27 ensured that the home side were always ahead of the game.

Australian superstar Phoebe Litchfield, having started this year’s tournament quietly, roared back into form with a stunning assault against Baker in particular, drilling the spinner for a trio of consecutive boundaries to settle any concerns in the home dugout.

With her compatriot Sutherland at the other end, the pair cruised to the finish line with only one alarm when Litchfield, on 48, was dropped at deep extra-cover by Baker. Litchfield brought up her second half-century in the competition from just 25 balls, as Superchargers’ overseas stars wrapped things up with a whopping 26 balls to spare.

Litchfield was named the Meerkat Match Hero: “That was good fun out there. Every time we play here at Headingley we know it’ll be a good pitch and you saw that even when Davina and ADR came out, and then especially Bellesey [Sutherland] at the end there.”

Litchfield was also full of praise for Superchargers’ spinners, Smith and Higham. “They hit their lengths and kept the stumps in play and forced the Birmingham batters to try something else, and we backed them up in the field. Our two little spinners have done wonders for us for a few years now and they showed it again today.

“We’ve had this group together for three years now, it hasn’t changed much, and the vibes are good. We had a pretty average game last time out, but we tried to park that and came out with a positive mindset.”

Brief scores:
Northern Superchargers Women  117 for 2 in 74 balls (Davina Perrin 14, Alice Davidson-Richards 17, Phoebe Litchfield 59*, Annabell Sutherland 20*; Em Arlott 1-19, Millie Taylor 1-26) beat Birmingham Phoenix Women  116 for 6 in 100 balls (Marie Kelly 20, Ellyse Perry 10, Steere Kalis 24*,  Em Arlott 32*; Grace Ballinger 1-32, Linsey Smith 2-18, Lucy Higham 2-21) by eight wickets

[Cricinfo]