Verma finally shines as Birmingham Phoenix register a vital victory against Welsh Fire

Shafali Verma and Eve Jones’ opening stand led Birmingham Phoenix to a much-needed victory against Welsh Fire, as the away side were left to rue a batting collapse.

While big things have been expected of Verma, the 17-year-old averaged only 14.2 in the competition prior to the visit of Sophie Luff’s side.

However, the number one ranked T20I women’s batter treated the Edgbaston crowd to a stunning knock of 76 off just 42 deliveries.

The highlight of her innings being sixes off Bryony Smith and Hayley Matthews, with the latter shot being a huge hit over long-off. Verma’s brilliant half-century came off just 22 deliveries, as she demonstrated her generational talent once again.

Jones (52 off 35) supported her partner in fine fashion and hit a number of impressive shots too, in spite of a weather disruption that threatened to bring an early end to the game.

Katie George may have felt partially responsible for her team’s defeat after she dropped Verma when running in on the dive from deep-midwicket, though the chance was a difficult one.

It was fitting that Verma sealed the win with a boundary as Phoenix sealed the win with 24 balls remaining. A significant improvement with the bat in their final fixture at Edgbaston.

Yet Bryony Smith’s four off the first ball of the day initially looked like a sign of things to come as the opener appeared to be in good touch for her 38 runs, which included hitting Kirstie Gordon over long-on for six.

Although, she was, in fact, handed a lifeline on just four after Erin Burns dropped a fairly straightforward catch off her own bowling.

Smith would have Georgia Redmayne (17) to blame for her eventual dismissal as the Aussie sent her back despite being halfway down the track.

Matthews (13), Redmayne and Sarah Taylor (16) all made starts but failed to convert them into big scores as Phoenix responded well with the ball.

Burns would atone for her previous error by claiming the wicket of Redmayne, once again, with a catch off her own bowling.

Former England international Taylor would have been particularly bemused by her dismissal as she was stumped off a full-toss bowled by Eve Jones following impressive work from Phoenix captain Amy Jones.

Even when skipper Luff (7)  fell with the score at 97-4 with 26 balls left, Fire would have been confident of posting a score of around 140 which would have been seen as an upward task for Phoenix’s struggling batting lineup to chase, even if, ultimately that was not the case.

The home side would recover well to remarkably take five wickets at the cost of just 23 runs, with erratic running and two wickets for Gordon seeing the visitors finish on 127-9.

Phoenix have leapfrogged Fire with the win and move into fifth with a slim chance of qualification. They will face Trent Rockets on Friday, meanwhile, Luff will lead her side out against Southern Brave at the Ageas Bowl on Wednesday.

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