Nat Sciver’s Trent Rockets fell to a first defeat of The Hundred, as they went down by eight wickets to local rivals Birmingham Phoenix.

After a stellar bowling effort on Saturday gave the Rockets a comfortable victory over the Manchester Originals, but they were unable to repeat the feat at Edgbaston.

Emily Arlott was the pick of the bowlers, claiming three for 20 including the key scalp of captain Nat Sciver, and was ably supported by Georgia Elwiss and Sophie Molineux, who picked up two wickets a piece for the home side.  

The Rockets kept the tie competitive for the majority of the Phoenix innings, but Amy Jones (44*) and Ellyse Perry (39*) posted an unbeaten third-wicket stand to take them to victory.

"We didn't quite get going in the middle,” said skipper Sciver.

“It felt like we hit a lot of fielders when we could have hit boundaries and we didn't really get a good partnership together after me and Elyse were out.

“There was a ten-ball period when we lost three wickets and it's hard when you lose momentum like that to get it back. 

"We did make it hard for ourselves with the bat to get a defendable total. Then we bowled reasonably well in the first 50 balls to keep the pressure on but then with the partnership that Amy and Ellyse had it was hard to stop them." 

The Rockets initially struggled to find any form of momentum in their innings. Molineux’s first set of 10 deliveries cost her just six runs inside the powerplay, and included the wicket of England opener Bryony Smith for 1, leaving the visitors teetering at 1-1.  

Sciver, making her first Hundred appearance of 2022, and Elyse Villani were then able to build a solid foundation, taking the Rockets up to 70 for one thanks to their half-century partnership.

After both international stars were removed, the Rockets lost wickets at regular intervals, eventually posting 116/9.

Phoenix didn’t exactly get off to a flier in reply as Sophie Devine holed out attempting to line up Sciver and departed for 16, while Eve Jones went for 16 not long after.

That was the last of the joy for the Rockets, Perry and Amy Jones taking their time before speeding up their run-scoring efforts, eventually reaching the target with eight wickets in the bag.

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Witness the Trent Rockets at Trent Bridge in their next home fixture versus Oval Invicibles on Wednesday 17 August. Secure your seats...