Manchester Super Giants 95 for 4 (Lanning 43, Mandhana 34) beat MI London 92 (Chathli 18, MacDonald-Gay 3-18) by six wickets
The table didn’t lie in the south London sunshine as the in-form Manchester Super Giants consolidated their third-place position in The Hundred. Despite a late wobble induced by the leg-spin of Melie Kerr, they thumped an out-of-sorts and tentative MI London by the margin of six wickets with 28 balls to spare, thus giving their net run rate a welcome shot in the arm.
Ecclestone also took two catches and effected a direct hit run out but this was not a one-woman show by any means. All of the Super Giants bowlers stepped up and MI London were squeezed incessantly, the visitors expertly marshalled in the field by Meg Lanning, who took three catches in what was an excellent all-round fielding display.
Grace Ballinger, Maitlan Brown and Ryana MacDonald-Gay all played their part, bowling a good length and commendably straight on a pitch where run-scoring seemed tricky.
Kerr did her best to pull off a miracle, snaring both Richa Ghosh and Paige Scholfield but there was only one further alarm as Lanning was lbw for 43 late in the piece. Mady Villiers then hit the winning boundary to make sure that the Super Giants’ stroll in the sun resulted in four points and the belief that they will be there or thereabouts come the business end of the competition.
Meerkat Match Hero, Ecclestone, said: “I was thrilled to bowl in the powerplay and get a few wickets. It was about match-ups to Hayley and I came on early.
“[We’ve] got a good bowling attack, we have a great line-up and hope our good form continues. Nice to get straight in the powerplay, hope Meg gives me more opportunities there.”
