Southern Brave 132 for 3 (Adams 50*, Kemp 41*, Kapp 1-18) beat Oval Invincibles 130 for 6 (Bates 55, Scholfield 30, Brown 1-8) by seven wickets
Brave had already booked their place in the knockouts but still have an automatic final spot in their grasp, while their nemesis in the first two finals can no longer progress.
Kapp played a similar role to get the visitors out of trouble but fell for 27 when picking out Chloe Tryon on the deep-square-leg boundary.
At 59 off the first 55 balls, the tempo needed to flick towards allegro and former Brave all-rounder Scholfield reset the metronome with 30 off 17 balls, which included getting dropped on 3 and plundering a six next ball.
Brave, often great at the death, once again flourished in the last end as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker Georgia Adams saw off Scholfield with her 15th wicket and Bates was run out for 55. Nadine de Klerk slog-swept the penultimate ball to deep square leg with three wickets falling for 11 runs in the last ten balls.
A slow start and the loss of both openers within the first 26 balls put Brave’s chase on the back foot. Smriti Mandhana top-edged a swing across the line off Kapp and Danni Wyatt was bowled by de Klerk – the Charlotte Edwards Cup’s top wicket-taker on her first appearance since replacing Dane van Niekerk.
Bouchier and Adams put on 38 but the asking rate was rising after 17 balls without a boundary – caused by Kapp’s 1 for 18 – and the pressure saw Bouchier slap to cover.
Brave desperately needed a Scholfield-esque innings; Kemp provided it, with Adams upping her strike rate. The game swung on Mady Villiers being smashed for two sixes in three balls as the duo stepped things up with 42 off the last 16 balls to end the game – Kemp hoisting a maximum to do it in style with four balls to spare.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo