In a gripping encounter at Cardiff, the Oval Invincibles emerged victorious against the Welsh Fire by six wickets, thanks to a stellar performance by England star Alice Capsey. Capsey, who had already impressed with a 51-run innings on the opening day, continued her excellent form by scoring 59 runs off just 48 balls.
The Oval Invincibles’ chase began on a shaky note when Lauren Winfield-Hill was dismissed for a duck off the second ball of the innings. However, Paige Schofield and Capsey steadied the ship and took the score to 37 for 1 after 20 balls. Capsey, in particular, was lucky to survive a drop catch at long-on early in her innings.
Capsey showed her class by hitting seven boundaries, including a well-constructed fifty from 42 balls. Her innings came to an end when she was caught brilliantly at long-on by Hayley Matthews off Freya Davies, leaving the Invincibles with 27 runs to get. The responsibility then fell on the shoulders of Marizanne Kapp and Mady Villiers, who guided the team to victory with 12 balls to spare.
Welsh Fire, after winning the toss and electing to bat, got off to a shaky start losing Tammy Beaumont early on. Matthews and Dunkley tried to stabilize the innings with their contributions, but the Fire could only manage to post a total of 116 for 5. Jonassen played a late cameo, scoring 32 not out from 22 balls, but it was not enough to challenge the Invincibles.
In the post-match press conference, Capsey expressed her delight at her performance, saying, “I was determined to contribute to the team’s success and I’m glad I could do that today.” Meanwhile, Welsh Fire captain, Tammy Beaumont, rued her team’s batting collapse, stating, “We needed more runs on the board to defend and our batting let us down.”
Overall, it was a thrilling contest between the two teams, with the Oval Invincibles coming out on top with a well-deserved victory. The fans were treated to some exciting cricketing action, and the players will be looking to carry this momentum into their next matches in The Hundred tournament.