Southern Brave 126 for 7 (Wolvaardt 45*, Lee 31, Graham 4-19) beat Welsh Fire 118 for 8 (Voll 52, Kemp 39, Molineux 3-14) by eight runs
The Fire had controlled the chase but with the end in sight they were squeezed mercilessly by an experienced Brave bowling attack.
“It was a great win in front of our home crowd,” Molineux said. “We clawed our way back and it was really pleasing… It’d be nice if we could take some catches, but we should not read too much into that and just crack on.”
Indian star Jemimah Rodrigues came and went but Molineux gave the innings momentum while Wolvaardt ticked along steadily, although a flurry of wickets towards the end meant Welsh Fire would have been the happier of the two sides going into the break.
But then things started to happen. Rodrigues pulled off a direct hit to run Kemp out, Molineux got the big wicket of Devine and the Fire’s nerves were jangling. When Corteen-Coleman had Voll caught by Bouchier for a 39-ball 52 the game was right back in the balance.
Bell then picked up two wickets in three balls to leave 16 needed from 10. Molineux’s smarts saw her concede three off the next five and it was left to Corteen-Coleman to seal the deal, seeing the game out at the death.
