Veteran seamer Kate Cross struck twice in two balls to break open The Hundred final today (August 31), just over a week after she was left out of England's World Cup squad.
Cross came into the attack to take the new ball in the winner-takes-all match at Lord's, coming on after Grace Ballinger had bowled a tight first 10 which went for six runs. Facing England teammate Danni Wyatt-Hodge, she conceded four runs from her first two balls, with two singles taken from her final three. The first ball after her next set of five, though, was hit for a down-the-ground six by Wyatt-Hodge.
After a single put Maia Bouchier on strike, however, Cross struck. Bouchier tried to take the ariel route down the ground as Wyatt-Hodge had done, but skied the ball towards cover. It was taken easily by Holly Armitage to give Northern Superchargers their first wicket and bring South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt to the crease. Cross sent her down a length ball first up, which nipped back in and took out her leg stump, sending Wolvaardt back for a golden duck.
Kate Cross in ODIs over the last year:
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) August 23, 2025
12 wickets at 21.41, economy 4.84.
Only Sophie Ecclestone has taken more wickets at a better average and economy for England in this period.
What do you make of Cross' omission from the World Cup squad? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/GMOMaDMEt0
While the hat-trick wasn't to be, with Cross bowling a wide down the leg side, Southern Brave's batting lineup had been broken open. They ended on 115-6 with Cross finishing with figures of 2-23 off 20.
Those crucial wickets from Cross come less than two weeks after she was controversially left out of England's squad for next month's World Cup. She missed out on the 15-player group having battled through injury over the winter and played four ODIs for England this summer. However, she only played the first match of their series against India, and conceded figures of 0-60 off 9.2 overs.
Speaking on the No Balls podcast, Cross said of the decision to leave her out: "I've just clearly fallen out of favour with Lot [Charlotte Edwards]. I haven't processed it. It's still really raw... Being in the best XI is a different conversation, but not being on the plane - it feels savage."
Cross has taken over 100 ODI wickets for England, and has over 100 international caps across formats since her debut in 2013.
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