Elyse Villani hailed an “unbelievable” display of batting from Nat Sciver after the England all-rounder took Trent Rockets within touching distance of The Hundred final, only to fall two runs short in The Eliminator against Southern Brave at the Ageas Bowl.
Sciver hit three consecutive sixes in the final set to bring the required runs down to just four off the final ball, having amassed fifty in just 29 deliveries.
By that last delivery, bowled by Tahlia McGrath, Sciver had raced to 71, but managed just a single as the Brave booked their spot at Lord’s
“What Natalie Sciver did at the end was just unbelievable,” the Trent Rockets captain said.
“She had no right to take it as close as what she did, and she had us on the edge of our seats. It was just ridiculous hitting.
“At the start of the last set I thought we were done. Then she got going, and we started to think ‘oh, maybe we could!’.
“And I thought there was going to be a bit of a fairytale ending to get us to the final, but what she did was brilliant.”
Villani’s was praising Sciver having assumed captaincy from the 30-year-old earlier in the tournament, and it was the selection from Villani and Head Coach Salliann Beams which paid dividends during a frenzied start.
The Rockets opted for a change in tact having won the toss and chosen to bowl, opening with the spin of Bryony Smith and Georgia Davis after Kathryn Bryce had been left out of the side for Sophie Munro.
Inside the powerplay, Danni Wyatt top edged an attempted sweep off Smith to fall for a second successive duck, Sophia Dunkley crunched two fours before chipping Davis to Villani, and McGrath and Smriti Mandana each deftly found the rope.
After the latter fell for 16 - tamely guiding Sciver to short third - it was the Brave middle order who staged a resurgence.
From 39-3 after 40 balls, McGrath and Mia Boucheir initially steadied the ship, and when the Australian departed at 66-4, the hosts had 43 deliveries of the innings still remaining.
It was Georgia Adams who took advantage.
She and Southern Vipers teammate Bouchier added 43 off 31 balls, with Adams cracking two sixes and three fours in her 24 balls, finishing with 38, while Boucheir faced the same number for 29.
“I thought our plans worked really well at the start,” Villani reflected of the first innings.
“That cameo from Georgia Adams was great and swung the momentum. I still think if we had batted first we would have wanted to put 150 on the board, so I felt like even though we could have restricted them more, it was a good total for us to chase down.”
Their reply started steadily with Smith and Villiani, adding 28 in the powerplay, but the Rockets were ripped apart by three wickets in seven balls.
Smith fell first, bowled by Adams attempting a reverse hit, before McGrath had Villani caught scooping and held on to a sharp return catch off Mignon Du Preez four deliveries later, reducing the Rockets to 45-3 with 56 balls remaining.
The presence of Sciver maintained the Rockets’ hopes, and 16 runs from four Amanda-Jade Wellington and Lauren Bell balls towards the last quarter of Rockets’ innings, and a four and six from Wellington’s final set, saw chances of qualification maintained.
The demise of Alana King, bowled for two, and Brunt, run out for three, and Freeborn, run out for two, however, looked to have put paid to the Rockets’ chances of progression, before Sciver’s heroics carried the Rockets to within two runs of victory.
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The Royal London Cup Final
The timeless pomp, ceremony and tradition of county cricket's historic 50-over final is soon to take place at Trent Bridge.
Lancashire and Kent will go head-to-head in the showpiece finale of the Royal London Cup at our historic home on Saturday 17 September.