Welsh Fire might have lost captain Sophie Devine to injury but their young talent stepped up in a dramatic final-ball victory over Hundred leaders Southern Brave.
Set a target of 122 in Cardiff, Heather Graham helped Fire to a four-wicket victory to inflict a first defeat of the campaign on the Brave.
The Welsh side suffered the loss of Devine – the joint most expensive women’s player in the tournament – on Sunday but Grace Thompson produced the goods on debut to score 16 when the game was in the balance.
“To come in for her first ever Hundred game and hit the ball so cleanly was phenomenal,” said Australia all-rounder Graham.
“To be able to do that on your debut is pretty special and she’s a talent. We’ve got to watch out for England cricket in the years to come because she’s a very good player, the same with Niamh (Holland).”
After Thompson’s dismissal, responsibility was passed to 21-year-old Niamh Holland to help Graham secure just their second victory of the Hundred so far.
The Somerset all-rounder held her nerve with a swift 12 before Graham secured the win with a single off the final ball.
“She knew what she wanted to do and was really calm and clear. I tried to help her out and just tell her to stay calm,” said Graham.
Fire moved to fourth and could boost their play-off hopes with victory at Old Trafford against third-placed Manchester Super Giants on Wednesday, 5 August (11:30 BST).
Australian international Graham hopes defeating the leaders in dramatic fashion can boost the the bid to reach the play-offs for a third time.
“We’ve had a couple of close games and have been on the losing side, so to be able to do that one and take home the chocolates was pretty good,” she said.
“We’re going to take a lot of confidence away from this and hopefully can get another win up there as well.”
