Smriti Mandhana dazzled with an imperious 88no to fire Manchester Super Giants to a four-wicket win over SunRisers Leeds at Headingley.
SunRisers looked to have the upper hand after strong performances from Australian stars Phoebe Litchfield (31 off 26) and Annabel Sutherland (35 off 24) – aided by a brilliant cameo from captain Dani Gibson (18 off 6) – to give the home side a defendable score of 142, having lost just four wickets over their 100 balls.
The home bowling attack looked to have consolidated that prominent position with a brilliant second-innings spell which yielded four wickets for 10 runs, to leave the Super Giants reeling at 71-5 having been 61-2, but Mandhana held firm, with the opener reaching her half-ton from just 33 balls.
Dani Gibson made 18 off 6 at the end of the SunRisers innings
Smriti Mandhana made an imperious 88no to guide her team to victory
Leeds looked to have taken the pivotal wicket 91 balls in, but Mandhana was dropped on the boundary on 71, and made no mistake with her remaining balls as she smashed two straight sixes to win the game for her side with five balls remaining.
The win preserves the Super Giants’ unbeaten record, putting them second with 10 points in the Hundred table, while a second loss for the SunRisers leaves them fifth on four points.
What’s on in the Hundred on Wednesday?
The streak of men’s and women’s double-headers continue, with Wednesday seeing Welsh Fire take on Trent Rockets, live on Sky Sports from 3:00pm. Watch The Hundred and more contract-free on NOW
