Five of the best 2022 Women's Competition matches
FEATUREWith 2023 fixtures coming soon, we've taken a look back at the five best matches in last year's Women's Competition. Which match are you most looking forward to in 2023?
Southern Brave vs London Spirit - 12 August
Brave win by six wickets
The second Women's Competition match of 2022, and London Spirit hit a terrific 155. It was the second-highest total ever. Beth Mooney's 97 not out was magnificent. Spirit surely in with a great chance of beating the 2021 runners-up.
And then Southern Brave proved why they had reached the previous year's final. Danni Wyatt led the way in the run chase, hitting 65. Brave ended up winning with six balls to spare, a remarkable achievement which set the tone for a high-scoring competition.
The best 2022 Men's Competition matches
Trent Rockets vs Oval Invincibles - 17 August
Invincibles win by five wickets
Nat Sciver was a star in 2022 and, with bat in hand, the match against Oval Invincibles was another example. She hit 59 runs in an otherwise difficult Rockets innings, which totalled just 112.
Invincibles were chugging along nicely, until Alana King played her hand. Ten - yes, ten - consecutive balls without conceding a run gave Rockets hope. Despite that, they still needed only five to win from the final ten balls, which Bryony Smith bowled. A pair of wickets and Invincibles wanted two runs from two balls. Marizanne Kapp smashed it to the boundary and Invincibles fans could breathe again!
Birmingham Phoenix vs Northern Superchargers - 19 August
Phoenix win by five runs
Another close encounter, this time at Edgbaston. Amy Jones top-scored with 48 but there were Phoenix contributions all around in what was their second-highest total in The Hundred: 153.
Still, Superchargers offered a valiant response. Alyssa Healy, Australian keeper-batter extraordinaire, led the way with 46. Hollie Armitage's rapid 31 got them close, too. But Issy Wong turned the match, bowling a crucial five balls towards the end and leaving Superchargers too much to do.
London Spirit vs Birmingham Phoenix - 30 August
Spirit win by four wickets
Phoenix needed a win to virtually guarantee a spot in the Eliminator. Batting first and being bowled out for 82, the fourth-lowest total ever in the Women's Competition, was not a great start.
Then something barely believable started to happen. Phoenix took wickets, and in quick succession. By the time they took the sixth, Spirit had scored just 26 runs and were nearly halfway through their innings. Any hope, though, was soon extinguished by Naomi Dattani and Grace Scrivens, whose steady hands took Spirit to the target with three balls remaining.
Southern Brave vs Trent Rockets - 2 September
Brave win by two runs
The Eliminator produced one of the most dramatic matches we've seen. Southern Brave batted first for the fourth time in 2022, and recorded just 134 - their second-lowest total. Georgia Adams starred with the bat, scoring an excellent 38, and then with the ball, taking two wickets to restrict the Rockets chase.
All that was holding the innings - and hope of the final - together was Nat Sciver. She kept hitting boundaries and got the scenario down to a difficult, but possible, 24 runs needed from five balls. After running a two, she struck a six, and then another, and then another. Any boundary from the final ball would do. But Sciver couldn't get it away, and Brave won an incredible match.