Southern Brave 140 for 3 (Bouchier 45, Lee 43) by beat Birmingham Phoenix 116 for 5 (Perrin 52, Molineux 2-24) by 24 runs

Phoenix appear to have forgotten how to win. Chasing 141 after fielding tigerishly to restrict the Brave on Southampton’s vast playing area, they got to 50 from 37 balls, with Tammy Beaumont and Davina Perrin going well. When the strategic timeout was taken, 54 were needed from 30 for the loss of just Beaumont for 22 (23). But thereafter the chase ran aground.

First Alice Capsey, who had been so impressive with the ball, skewed a Lauren Bell slower ball to extra cover off her ninth delivery. Then Perrin, who had ridden her luck to careen to a 40-ball half-century, surviving three boundary catches along the way, miscued once too often to loft a Sarah Glenn legbreak to Maia Bouchier at long-on.

Perrin’s dismissal killed the innings dead. Molineux picked up two wickets to make it seven for the tournament, working in cahoots with fellow left-arm spinner Tilly Courteen-Coleman to exert the squeeze, and not even a brace of long-handled boundaries from her opposite number Ellyse Perry could get the Phoenix close, as they finished 24 runs shy.

Earlier in the piece, Lizelle Lee was explosive in the powerplay, pushing on to a 23-ball 43, including the only two sixes of the match, while Bouchier, who made a 31-ball 45, played punchily in her slipstream, and Jemimah Rodrigues added great momentum at the death, striking three fours from the final five to tilt the scales to the Brave.

Meerkat Match Hero Lizelle Lee said: “I think it was better to bat against the new ball out there. It came off the wicket a bit easier and as soon as the ball got a bit softer, it became harder to play. So I think our batters did really well at the end there to get us up to a good score, and I think that’s what set us apart.

“Our bowlers are not getting enough credit. They’ve bowled extremely well, they get us out of everything. Everyone’s gelling pretty well and we seem to be able to get over the line in tough situations. Sophie Molineux as captain is such a calm presence on the field and I feel that is flowing into everybody, and it shows.”