Southern Brave show signs of Vipers' relentless regional dominance

NICK FRIEND: Southern Vipers aren't used to losing – they've done so just four times since the regional structure was introduced in 2020 – and Southern Brave have quickly become a high-class extension

It should come as no surprise that Smriti Mandhana was Charlotte Edwards' first-choice overseas player when she was given the keys to Southern Brave at the start of last summer.

The women's game in general features a sparsity of left-handed batters, and that is even more the case in England, so much so that Mandhana's teammate, Freya Kemp, became the country's fourth-highest lefthanded run-scorer in T20Is early this summer when she hit her first international run.

It's a bizarre quirk and a failing of the English game, with several mooted root-causes: young girls' early exposure to hockey, grassroots coaching and the temptation for beginners to opt for bottom-hand dominance have all emerged as possible reasons.

Whatever the answer, though, the upshot is an inexperience when bowling at them: Sophie Ecclestone's average in international cricket is roughly double her equivalent against right-handers. And while that is partly a consequence of her art – spinning the ball into the bat rather than away from it in limited-over cricket – there is no doubt that their rarity has given little frame of reference. Former Lancashire allrounder Tom Smith, at one stage part of England Women's backroom team, used to pad up to give the bowlers someone to practise against; more recently, Tash Farrant – a left-handed tailender – has provided the same service.

Not that Mandhana needs any assistance: she has looked the standout batter in the competition so far, albeit without the raw numbers to vindicate that opinion. In whichever game she plays, the standout shot tends to come off her bat. On Sunday, it was a perfect cover drive off the first delivery of Brave's victory over Oval Invincibles, caressing Marizanne Kapp through a gap with nothing more than a checked thread.

At the Ageas Bowl, as Manchester Originals fell away to turn a comfortable chase into a poor defeat, the defining image was of Mandhana – one ball after belting Ecclestone for six over the legside with the kind of crack usually reserved for a gunshot – tiptoeing down the pitch to loft the world's leading bowler over extra cover for perhaps the sweetest boundary of the women's competition to date.

^{Amanda-Jade Wellington has been an inspired addition (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)}

While the absence of India's men continues to be an elephant in the room, Mandhana's effortless fluency is doing a fine job of flying the flag. On a surface that didn't otherwise encourage fast scoring – Emma Lamb's 45-ball 57 ultimately sold her team short – she made 43 off 25 balls, with the highest strike rate of the day.

Her fluency evoked purrs in the commentary box and similar in the stands, where a record crowd for a women's domestic game at the Ageas Bowl had descended to watch their side – competing on their own this year for a Brave title amid their men's struggles – maintain their perfect record in this year's tournament. They are very much the team to beat, and not only for Mandhana's presence.

In no team across The Hundred – regardless of gender – is the link between regular domestic cricket and this competition clearer to see: quite simply, Southern Vipers aren't used to losing – they've done so just four times since the regional structure was introduced in 2020 – and Southern Brave have quickly become a high-class extension of that outfit, unbeaten this year and losing only a single group game and the final in 2021.

The greatest compliment you could pay to Edwards' charges – she is in charge of the regional squad, led by Georgia Adams, and this group, led by Anya Shrubsole – is that they would give the better sides in the Women's Big Bash a run for their money.

Unsurprisingly, Shrubsole, Heather Knight's former deputy with England, has looked a fine tactical captain. She was another Edwards pick at the start of the domestic season, calling her a year ago to ascertain when her international retirement might come and whether its timing might be right to fulfil a vacant player-coach role at Southern Vipers. Edwards left it open for her, and Shrubsole made the switch from Western Storm in April.

By all accounts, she has been a roaring success. Thinking ahead to The Hundred, she told Adams – a part-time off-spinner – in one of her early steps after joining Vipers that she foresaw her playing an important part with the ball once The Hundred came around: she has bowled 55 out of 60 balls possible so far.

^{Lauren Bell has won all there is to win on the regional circuit (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)}

The major difference from the regional circuit is in the overseas department. But just as Edwards wanted Mandhana, pinpointing her as the ideal opener for the role she wanted filling alongside Danni Wyatt, she also wanted a world-class allrounder and a dangerous leg-spinner.

Her wishes were answered with Tahlia McGrath, arguably the leading player in the world for 2022, and Amanda-Jade Wellington, one of the stars of the inaugural edition and – for any other country than Australia – an attack-leading spinner, who took the wickets of Ecclestone, Deandra Dottin and Lizelle Lee in a low-scoring affair where breaking through Originals' high-profile top order represented the key to victory.

Only two members of Brave's squad – Sophia Dunkley and Jo Gardner – don't play together for Vipers, while Adams moved over from Oval Invincibles in the off-season to join the group that she has led to its own invincibility in the Heyhoe Flint Trophy and Charlotte Edwards Cup.

She arrived having won The Hundred last year, which might just make her the most decorated player in English women's cricket at the moment. As it stands, she holds every piece of silverware possible – and, based on the current evidence, that might not change any time soon.

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