Rhianna Southby and bowlers script Brave win to go atop the points table
Written by I Dig SportsSouthern Brave 102 for 5 (Bouchier 31, Wyatt 20, Smith 2-11) beat Northern Superchargers 100 for 8 (Kelly 39, Armitage 21, Adams 3-21, Shrubsole 2-13)
Southby affected a record four dismissals - two catches and two stumpings - in her second Hundred game in front of a strong Ageas Bowl crowd of 9813.
Shrubsole won the toss, chose to bowl, and continued her farewell tour with her greatest hits to dismiss the overseas duo of Jemimah Rodrigues and Pheobe Litchfield. The former with a textbook extravagant inswinger, the latter brilliantly caught on the rise by Southby.
Marie Kelly and Hollie Armitage collaborated with a 43-run stand before Southby stooped to affect a stumping off a low bouncing ball to see off Armitage before taking an under edge from Alice Davidson-Richards on review.
Southby, who didn't play in the Southern Vipers' successful T20 Charlotte Edwards Cup campaign, continued her good work behind the stumps to stump Kelly - who top-scored with an anchoring 39.
A sticky pitch assisted turn for Adams, Kalea Moore and Chloe Tryon, who bowled the bulk of the middle balls, but it was Lauren Bell and Shrubsole who went at under a run-a-ball at either end of the innings.
Bess Heath chipped to mid-off, Leah Dobson was caught and bowled by Adams and Kate Cross was deceived by a cunning Bell slower ball.
Bouchier had been 8 off her first 14 balls but exploded with a pair of boundaries and a six in three successive balls. Mandhana and Adams swung to deep midwicket, while Bouchier rolled on with a stylish cut shot before she was caught and bowled by Linsey Smith's full toss with 14 still required.
Smith and Georgia Wareham had both taken two wickets for 11 and 15 respectively to scare the Brave, with Freya Kemp bowled by Wareham to put the hosts five down. But Tryon pulled a boundary and sent Brave to the top with 13 balls to spare, with Superchargers still only winning two games away from Headingley in their third season.