Dunkley, Luff stars as Trent Rockets register third win of the season


Brisk fifties from Sophia Dunkley and Sophie Luff, and Ash Gardner's impressive 4-16, helped Trent Rockets pick up their third win of the season, handing Manchester Super Giants the season's firstloss - by 31 runs. After the Rockets lost Beth Mooney early in a slow start, the two half-centurions combined for a 91-run stand in 51 pitches. Luff was the aggressor in the partnership, hammering 51 off 26 balls before falling right at the 100-run mark. Eight boundaries and two maximums were in her knock. Dunkley fell son after, making 57 in 33 balls including half a dozen boundaries and three sixes. After that, the Rockets didn't form a big partnership, but Georgia Adams' handy 20 not out in 13 balls got them to a competitive 153/8, even though wickets kept falling at the other end. MSG got off to a bad start, losing Smriti Mandhana for just four runs, chasing a low total. Meg Lanning made 35 runs in 24 deliveries, but the Rockets bowlers broke through every time a stand looked even remotely dangerous, and she lost too many partners. Lanning fell at 89/5, after stitching two brief stand with Kathryn Bryce and Richa Ghosh. Super Giants' collapsed thereafter. Gardner, who took the prized wicket of her former Australian captain, added two more lower-order scalps to her score, which was amazing at 18-8-16-4 at the end. She was well supported by Charley Phillips (2-20) and Samantha Bates (2-26), both of whom picked two runs to keep MSG at 122 with seven deliveries left in their chase.