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Kia Oval Talking Points: Champions Southern Brave cling on

The Cricketer looks at the main talking points from the women's Hundred clash between Oval Invincibles and Southern Brave at the Kia Oval

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Movement That Inspires play of the day

In a game dominated by the bowlers, Ryana MacDonald-Gay delivered the ball of the day to remove the Oval Invincibles' Maia Bouchier.

The Southern Brave batter made room to try and launch the 20-year-old over the top, with mid-on and mid-off both up.

But she did not account for the pace of MacDonald-Gay who beat her on the inside and made a mess of her stumps.

"It is good bowling. Driven for four the ball before, to hit the top of the stumps," said Stuart Broad on commentary. "Bouchier tried to make an adjustment using her feet to get down the pitch but wasn't as balanced as she has been in this innings so far."

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Ryana MacDonald-Gay celebrates the wicket of Maia Bouchier (ECB/Getty Images)

Take The Lead, Drive Electric moment of the day

In what was a tricky chase for Brave with scoring touch in greasy conditions, Danni Wyatt stepped up to deliver their first victory of the tournament.

You will do well to find a set of deliveries more dramatic than the first 10 the England batter faced.

The second flew to the boundary, the sixth was put down inexplicably by Mady Villiers, the eighth was dispatched over the rope and the 10th was shelled by Alice Capsey.

But crucially, she stuck around deep into the chase and after passing Nat Sciver-Brunt to become the competition's leading run-scorer, led Brave to their first victory at the sixth time of asking.

She was forced to use all of her experience to outwit Sophia Smale, who conceded just two off the opening three deliveries of the final set.

Having become wise to Smale's wide line of approach, she shuffled across her crease and banged a six over backward square leg to confirm victory with a ball to spare.

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Brave stay alive - but only just

The defending champions continue to cling onto their title but they'll need favours in the coming days to remain in the competition.

Anything other than the victory they eventually secured over Invincibles would have seen them crash out, but Wyatt's poise sees them remain in the top three hunt for another day.

Next, they'll need Manchester Originals to beat London Spirit at Lord's on Friday (August 9) before they return to action against Trent Rockets 24 hours later.

They sign off their campaign against Welsh Fire next Wednesday (August 14), by which time they'll need a couple more acts of kindness. This might just be a stay of execution.

This report was brought to you in association with Kia – to find out more about why Kia is a leader in electrification, visit www.kia.com

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