Welsh Fire achieved a dramatic victory against league-leaders Southern Brave, clinching the match off the final ball at Cardiff in The Hundred. The win provided a significant boost to the sixth-placed Welsh Fire, who were playing without their captain Sophie Devine after she was ruled out of the tournament due to a calf injury.
Southern Brave, who had remained unbeaten in their previous five matches, chose to bat first after captain Sophie Molineux won the toss. However, the Brave batting lineup struggled on a turning pitch, losing their openers within 16 balls. Laura Wolvaardt and Jemimah Rodrigues attempted to rebuild the innings, but the team eventually finished on 121-5. Despite the low score, Southern Brave had established themselves as a formidable bowling side throughout the tournament, having never previously surpassed 140 runs in an innings.
The Brave bowling attack initially appeared to have the match under control. Tilly Corteen-Coleman claimed two wickets, including the dismissal of Georgia Voll, who had become the competition's leading run-scorer. Issy Wong also contributed by bowling Orla Prendergast, and Lauren Bell dismissed Georgia Wareham with a clever slower ball. At one stage, Welsh Fire faced the difficult task of needing 52 runs from 38 balls.
The momentum shifted when debutant Grace Thompson hit a six and a four in quick succession. Although Thompson was eventually caught, Niamh Holland kept the pressure on the Brave with a series of boundary shots. The match reached a tense conclusion with three runs required off the final two balls. Following a dropped catch by Lee that allowed a single, Heather Graham struck the final ball through the infield to secure the win.
Reflecting on the result, Meerkat Match Hero Heather Graham said: "For Niamh to come in at the end, run really well with me, and get a few boundaries away herself; the win is more for those guys than me. It's always nerve-wracking in situations like that. I've played for a lot of years now and been in plenty of tight games, so you just rely on those past experiences to help get you over the line."
In their previous five wins, Brave had twice defended 126 for 7 and 140 for 3, and chased 115 and 117. They are curiously the only team in the men's or women's competition not to have gone past 140.
Georgia Voll went past Sophia Dunkley to become the 2026 competition's leading run-scorer but departed for 11 to Tilly Corteen-Coleman's second ball, with the young spinner having Ella McCaughan stumped from her fifth. And when the economical Issy Wong hit Devine's replacement Orla Prendergast's stumps, Brave were squeezing the opposition in habitual style, despite bowling an unusual number of wides.
