A huge chase lit up England Women's winter training camp in South Africa yesterday (March 25) after an explosive cameo from Dani Gibson bested Sophia Dunkley's 51-ball Hundred to help Team Heyhoe Flint chase down 213.
Gibson, who was bought by Sunrisers Leeds for £190,000 in The Hundred auction earlier this month, came in at No.5 for Team Heyhoe Flint, when they still needed 144 to win. She blasted 67 off 29 balls, including hitting three sixes to power them over the line with four balls to spare. Her innings came alongside a 41-ball 73 from Danni Wyatt-Hodge, who steadied the chase after Amy Jones and Emma Lamb were dismissed in consecutive balls by Issy Wong.
The match was not a recognised T20 match, but if it had been, Team Heyhoe Flint would have equalled the record for the highest successful chase in a women's T20. That record is currently held by West Indies, who chased 213 to beat Australia with one ball of the match remaining in 2023.
In the first innings of the match, Dunkley hit a 51-ball hundred, which would have been her first T20 century had the match been official.
What is England's winter training camp?
England Women have had no international cricket scheduled since the Women's World Cup finished last November. Their next scheduled international series will begin at home against New Zealand in May.
To bridge the gap in the calendar with the T20 World Cup only three months away, a series of training camps have taken place over the winter, which have included a wide selection of players. Smaller camps took place in Oman and Stellenbosch earlier in the winter, but the current camp in Pretoria features a group of 30 players. The squad has been split into two camps – Team Heyhoe Flint and Team Brittin – who are facing off in a five-match T20 series. With one match to play, the scoreline is currently at 2-2.
The teams are operating under different coaches, with Charlotte Edwards overseeing both squads, and were originally set to stay in separate hotels in order to bolster the camp's competitiveness. However, with the tour original scheduled to take place in Abu Dhabi, the conflict in the Middle East forced a re-think, with the camp moved to Pretoria and both teams staying in the same hotel.
While Team Brittin was originally led by Nat Sciver-Brunt, she returned home after the first match for personal reasons. Charlie Dean, who captained Team Heyhoe Flint in the first three games, was ruled out of the rest of the series with a back niggle. Dunkley and Gibson stepped in to captain their respective sides in the fourth match.
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