Chamari Athapaththu and Dannie Wyatt shared yet another match-defining opening partnership to set up a match winning total for the Falcons, who became the first team to qualify for the FairBreak Invitational Final by beating Spirit by 25 runs.
The pair put on 132 for the 1st wicket in 15 overs, to give the Falcons the perfect platform to launch in the 1st semi-final of the competition. Both Athapaththu and Wyatt have been in blazing form in the tournament, currently in 1st and 2nd place on the top run-getters charts with 304 and 205 runs respectively.
Athapaththu was the first to go and although Wyatt kept motoring along, none of the other batters were able to make a contribution of any significance as the Falcons managed just 40 off the last 5 overs, losing 4 wickets in the process.
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Anju Gurung struck early to remove Sarah Bryce but Spirit kept up with the scoring rate in the chase thanks to a 70-run partnership between England’s Sophia Dunkley and Thailand’s Natthakan Chantham. Gurung struck again to remove Chantham and Spirit never recovered from that point, giving the Falcons a comfortable win in the end.
They will face the Tornadoes, who beat the Barmy Army in the 2nd semi-final, in the big final later today.
Brief Scores
Falcons 172/5 (20) Danni Wyatt 83, Chamari Athapaththu 63, Nicola Carey 2/30, Ayabonga Khaka 1/27
Spirit 147/5 (20) Sophia Dunkley 45, Natthakan Chantham 42, Anju Gurung 2/26, Gunjan Shukla 1/16
Result – Falcons won by 25 runs
