Wyatt makes history with T20 century

LONDON: Danni Wyatt became the first England player to score a century in the Women’s Cricket Super League, bringing up 110 from 60 balls for Southern Vipers.

Her score is the second-highest of all time in the competition, after Suzie Bates’ 119 in 2017, and her century, which came off 56 balls, is second-fastest, only behind the 55 balls that Lizelle Lee took last year.

Wyatt’s efforts lifted Southern Vipers to 178-9. With Surrey Stars bowled out for just 89, the Vipers completed a comprehensive 89-run win on Sunday.Wyatt’s feat appears more impressive considering how tricky the surface had been at the start. She and Bates had managed just 29 in the Powerplay and 68 after 10 overs.

But they quickly made up for the lack of pace. The England Twenty20 International opener brought up her fifty in 32 balls, but needed just 24 more to reach three figures, getting there with a sequence of six, four and six. Her knock included seven sixes and nine fours.

“It was a tricky wicket,” Wyatt told CRICKETher after the game. “Me and Suzie (Bates) struggled a bit in the first few overs. It was one of those wickets where you have to just back yourself and slog it really. I came off the pitch thinking, ‘Wow, how did I manage that?”

“Once I was in, I wasn’t thinking and just wanted to hit boundaries. Anything up there and full I tried to get my hands through.”Wyatt, who was only the second woman to have two T20I hundreds, was glad to reach the landmark again in the domestic game. “I’ve not hit a 100 for about 15 months so it’s nice to get another one!” she added.

Her heroics meant that South Africa captain Dane van Niekerk’s hat-trick — she had Stefanie Taylor and Marie Kelly bowled, and Maia Bouchier caught behind — went in a losing cause.