Welsh Fire youngsters step up after Devine blow
Welsh Fire youngsters step up after Devine blow
Ioan Griffiths Tue, August 4, 2026 at 3:23 PM UTC
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Welsh Fire finished second in the 2024 edition after losing by four wickets to London Spirit in the final.
Welsh Fire might have lost captain Sophie Devine to injury but their young talent stepped up in a dramatic final-ball victory over Hundred leaders Southern Brave.
Set a target of 122 in Cardiff, Heather Graham helped Fire to a four-wicket victory to inflict a first defeat of the campaign on the Brave.
The Welsh side suffered the loss of Devine - the joint most expensive women's player in the tournament - on Sunday but Grace Thompson produced the goods on debut to score 16 when the game was in the balance.
"To come in for her first ever Hundred game and hit the ball so cleanly was phenomenal," said Australia all-rounder Graham.
"To be able to do that on your debut is pretty special and she's a talent. We've got to watch out for England cricket in the years to come because she's a very good player, the same with Niamh (Holland)."
After Thompson's dismissal, responsibility was passed to 21-year-old Niamh Holland to help Graham secure just their second victory of the Hundred so far.
The Somerset all-rounder held her nerve with a swift 12 before Graham secured the win with a single off the final ball.
"She knew what she wanted to do and was really calm and clear. I tried to help her out and just tell her to stay calm," said Graham.
Fire moved to fourth and could boost their play-off hopes with victory at Old Trafford against third-placed Manchester Super Giants on Wednesday, 5 August (11:30 BST).
Australian international Graham hopes defeating the leaders in dramatic fashion can boost the the bid to reach the play-offs for a third time.
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"We've had a couple of close games and have been on the losing side, so to be able to do that one and take home the chocolates was pretty good," she said.
"We're going to take a lot of confidence away from this and hopefully can get another win up there as well."
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Can the men's side finally reach the play-offs?
It appears the fortunes of the worst-performing team in Hundred history are finally turning around.
After a nerve-wracking win for the women, the Sophia Gardens crowd were treated to another home success when the men's side defeated Southern Brave by six wickets.
A composed run chase, including an impressive unbeaten 60 from Australian international Matt Short, saw them climb to second in the table, level on points with Trent Rockets.
Short praised his bowlers for their impressive display after limiting Southern Brave to just 115.
"There's always nerves with the chase but the bowlers set us up nicely. They got us off to a good start with a couple of wickets in the power play which limited the damage on the scoreboard," he said.
"Credit to them for leaving the batters a pretty small chase in the end and I was happy just to be there through the innings."
The men's side have now won four of their opening five matches, and with three games to go look poised to secure a place in the play-offs for the first time.
They have a quick turnaround to a game against Manchester Super Giants on Wednesday, 5 August (15:00 BST) at Old Trafford.
"The travel does get to you a little bit, but once you're out in the middle the adrenaline kicks in," said Short.
Source: “AOL Sports”
