Welsh Fire are out of the running for The Hundred knockout stages after a one-sided defeat to Sunrisers Leeds at Headingley, a result that also keeps Sunrisers’ own hopes of reaching the Eliminator very much alive.

Sunrisers now face a virtual quarter-final against Manchester Super Giants, who sit two points above them in third on 18, at Old Trafford on Tuesday afternoon.

Both sides arrived on the back of two wins apiece, and Sunrisers won the toss and chose to bowl first, as expected.

It was a scratchy opening for the hosts, with Cassidy McCarthy sending down four wides in five balls before Kate Cross made the breakthrough, trapping Sarah Bryce lbw.

That brought Freya Kemp to the crease alongside Georgia Voll, and the former wasted no time finding her rhythm in what would become the innings of the match.

Deepti Sharma then struck for Sunrisers, pinning Voll lbw to leave Fire on 61 for 2 at the halfway stage – still very much in the contest.

From there, though, the innings unravelled. Hannah Baker ripped through the middle order with two wickets in quick succession: a sharp catch from Phoebe Litchfield accounted for Georgia Wareham, before Baker bowled Orla Prendergast with a superb delivery, both batters departing for ducks.

Annabel Sutherland, having earlier put down a chance from Kemp, then dropped her again off Baker’s bowling to hand Fire a brief reprieve.

It wasn’t enough. Two further wickets fell in the space of six balls as Fire’s innings stalled, the batters reduced to simply trying to see out the 100 balls. Baker finished with excellent figures of 2 for 15.

Kemp, though, refused to let the innings fizzle out quietly.

She launched a six off Jess Jonassen and accelerated to an unbeaten 72 from 45 balls – a brilliant, lone hand that still left Fire’s total of 121 for 8 looking short against a Super Giants top order in red-hot form.

So it proved. Phoebe Litchfield picked up exactly where she’d left off against Birmingham Phoenix on Friday, tearing the Fire attack apart with shots to all parts of the ground, including three sixes, on her way to a rapid 23-ball 55.

By the time she was dismissed, Super Giants were on 92 from 52 balls and the result was all but settled.

Bryony Smith fell without troubling the scorers, but Lauren Winfield-Hill again played the supporting role she had on Friday, while Sutherland made an impressive 18-ball 28.

Skipper Dani Gibson and Jonassen finished the job, guiding Super Giants home with 26 balls to spare.

For Sunrisers, it’s a result that keeps their season alive. For Welsh Fire, it brings the curtain down on their Hundred campaign.

Player-of-the-match Hannah Baker credited the surface and her fielders for her decisive spell.

“The wicket did a lot for us to be fair and I was helped out by the fielders massively,” she said.

“Personally it’s about spinning it as much as I can but also varying my pace so it’s not predictable.”

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