Phoebe Litchfield has had a pretty subdued 2025 for such a brilliant young batting talent — but the young Australian has at last illuminated the Hundred most brilliantly with her match-winning knock for the league-leading Northern Superchargers.
The gifted 22-year-old left-hander had not made a half-century all year, playing innings that had never delivered quite as much as they promised.
Yet she put all that right on Friday on a lovely Headingley track, unfurling the full panoply of her extravagant stroke play to power the Leeds-based Superchargers to an eight-wicket win over Ellyse Perry’s Birmingham Phoenix with one of the best unbeaten fifties seen in this edition of the competition.
Supported by admiring Aussie teammate Annabel Sutherland, the pair put on a two-run-per-ball stand of 58 with Litchfield the dominant partner.
She raced to her second 50 in the competition — the other came back in 2023 — off just 25 balls, and finished unbeaten on 59, smashing the winning runs with an extravagant switch-hit four straight back over bowler Millie Taylor’s head that seemed to embody her irrepressible talent.
It was her 11th boundary off the 28th ball she faced and eased the Superchargers past the Phoenix’s woefully under-par 6-116 with 26 balls remaining.
At the other end, Sutherland finished unbeaten on 20 off 13 as the two Australians ended up sealing the most miserable of days for their illustrious compatriot Perry.
Perry had earlier won the toss and decided to bat, but that was about as good as it got for the Phoenix’s superstar skipper.
Litchfield’s heroics added to a forgettable outing for fellow Australian star and captain of the Birmingham Phoenix, Ellyse Perry. (Getty Images: Alex Davidson)
Fellow Australian Georgia Voll began promisingly enough with four boundaries in her first nine balls, but once she’d been bowled by spinner Linsey Smith for 17, it became a struggle for the visitors, with much reliance on Perry to finally deliver with the bat after her own fairly ordinary start to the campaign.
Yet while going well enough on 10 from six balls, Perry was dismissed in luckless fashion when her batting partner Marie Kelly scuffed a straight drive off Sutherland, whose touch diverted the ball onto the stumps with the captain unable to get back into her ground.
Lucy Higham (2-21) and Smith (2-18) were key to stifling the Phoenix run flow, while Sutherland did her bit by conceding just 21 off her wicketless 20 balls.
But the Superchargers made light work of the chase once the two Australians came together, with Litchfield soon in prime form as she launched a brilliant attack on the bowling of Hannah Baker, cracking her for three straight boundaries, including another spectacular switch-hit through extra-cover.
Litchfield played just one false stroke, getting dropped at deep extra-cover by the hapless Baker when on 48.
“That was good fun out there,” said Litchfield after being presented with the player-of-the-match honours.
“We’ve had this group together for three years now, it hasn’t changed much, and the vibes are good. We had a pretty average game last time out, but we tried to park that and came out with a positive mindset.”
Indeed, after three wins in their first four games, the Superchargers are now leading the eight-team table on 12 points, ahead only of the unbeaten Southern Brave, who have played a game less, and the London Spirit.
AAP
Discussion about this post