Carey-inspired Spirit sink Tornadoes as Barmy Army, Falcons reach semis

KOWLOON: Spirit Women’s captain Nicola Carey led from the front with a brilliant 84-run knock and scripted a dominating six-wicket victory over Tornadoes Women in the 13th match of the ongoing FairBreak Invitational.

The Spirit’s dominating victory over the Tornadoes and Falcons Women’s nine-wicket thrashing of Sapphires Women locked the four semi-finalists – Spirits, Warriors, Barmy Army and Falcons – for the tournament.

Opting to bat first, the Tornadoes could raise 150/4 in the allotted 20 overs at the back of a brilliant half-century by their captain Stefanie Taylor.

Taylor top-scored for the Tornadoes with 61 off 48 deliveries, including 10 boundaries, followed by opening batter Sterre Kalis, who scored a cautious 45-ball 37.

Dane van Niekerk made a valuable contribution by scoring a quickfire 28 runs off 14 balls, laced with three boundaries and two sixes.

Sophia Dunkley led the bowling attack for the Spirit with 2/20 while Carey and Shizuka Miyaji made one scalp each.

Set to chase 151, the Spirit comfortably chased down the total in the 16th over with six wickets to spare, thanks to an astoundingly berserk knock by their captain Carey.

Earlier, the Spirit had a shaky start to the run chase as they lost two wickets with just nine runs on the scoreboard.

Natthakan Chantham and Kerry-Anne Tomlinson settled things down with a vital 49-run partnership before Sita Rana Magar broke the stand by dismissing the former, who scored 16 off 23.

Coming out to bat at No.5, the Spirit captain Carey baton charged the Tornadoes’ bowlers and took them to the cleaners.

She top-scored for her side with a 28-ball 84, laced up with seven boundaries and as many sixes and scripted a dominating victory for her side.

Chantham, on the other hand, made a vital contribution with her sensible 29-ball 35, featuring four boundaries and a six.

Aliya Riaz was the pick of the bowlers for the Tornadoes as she bagged 2/15 while Chanida Sutthiruang and Magar struck out a batter each.

READ: Barcelona held by Girona in a goalless La Liga stalemate