The Hundred 2024: Two-time champions Oval Invincibles open women’s competition with convincing win

Birmingham Phoenix are convincingly defeated at the Kia Oval after half centuries from Paiga Scholfield and Alice Capsey

Kia Oval: Oval Invincibles 150-5, Birmingham Phoenix 105 – Oval Invincibles won by 45 runs

A superb 71 from Paige Scholfield led Oval Invincibles to a convincing 45-run victory over Birmingham Phoenix in the first match of the fourth year of The Hundred.

In front of 10,249 fans, the two-time champions Invincibles batted first and the 28-year-old Scholfield – who takes on a new role at the top of the batting order in the absence of Sri Lankan captain Chamari Athapaththu – found admirable company in England’s Alice Capsey, who scored 52 runs herself.

The duo made 90 for the second wicket – sharing 17 boundaries – and at times looked set to threaten a record score in the women’s Hundred competition until a series of late wickets halted their progress.

However, the odds favoured the home team at half-time, who were defending 150 runs, and when Phoenix lost three wickets at 32, their fate was effectively assured.

^{Sophia Smale completes a superb caught and bowled strike to dismiss Sophie Devine (ECB/Getty Images)}

New Zealand captain Sophie Devine and Birmingham’s Amy Jones offered some resistance to the visitors, but the Invincibles’ bowling attack – and in particular Australian leg-spinner Amanda-Jade Wellington (3 for 9) – proved too strong and gave the home team the perfect start with a 45-run win.

Player of the match Paige Scholfield said: “I’m absolutely pumped. It’s my first time opening so I was a bit nervous but I had Lozzy (Lauren Winfield-Hill) helping me through those first 10 balls and I got a good feel for the pitch. I haven’t opened much, I usually come in at the end and try to hit as many boundaries as possible with as few balls as possible! But I’ve enjoyed it.

“I feel like the tennis ball was bouncing a bit in the court so you either have to move well back or forward so I trusted my strokes and I played them. We were hitting at No. 11 so I trusted myself and I went for it – and I always have them in the dugout if things aren’t going well. Chamari can have it (the opening role when she returns from the Asia Cup), I’m going to do what head coach Jon Batty tells me to do!”

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