The Hundred: Welsh Fire beat Manchester Originals to earn first women's win

Welsh Fire earned their first win of the women's Hundred with a comprehensive nine-wicket victory against Manchester Originals in Cardiff.

Batting first they were boosted by Sophie Ecclestone's 31 from 15 balls at the end of their innings which lifted them to 120-6.

But West Indies international Hayley Matthews made that total look well below par, hitting 71 from 50 balls at the top of the order for Welsh Fire.

Georgia Redmayne also hit 38 from 35 balls as the hosts eased to their total with 12 balls to spare.

Welsh Fire and Manchester Originals also meet in the men's competition from 14:30 BST, live on BBC Two.

Matthews the latest opener to impress

The women's Hundred so far has been all about the opening batters.

First there was Jemimah Rodrigues' 92 not out for Northern Superchargers, then 16-year-old Alice Capsey's 59 at Lord's, Rachel Priest's 76 for Trent Rockets and on Friday Danni Wyatt hit 69 not out in a win for Southern Brave.

We can now add Hayley Matthews' name to that list.

She scored 30 and 33 in Fire's opening two games in a steady start to the competition but in this game really caught light.

The 23-year-old hit four fours in the opening 10 balls of the innings and never looked back. She hit a picture-perfect six over extra cover and sealed the win with a powerful, textbook on-drive back past the bowler.

The win takes Fire into sixth and with Matthews, highly-rated ever since hitting 66 off 45 balls as an 18-year-old to lead West Indies to victory in the 2016 T20 World Cup final, they will stand a chance going forward.

Sloppy Originals struggling

After Matthews hit the winning runs, Manchester skipper Kate Cross brought her team together in a huddle, seemingly in an attempt to boost morale. Cross admitted afterwards the youthful dressing room was "pretty flat".

They have three defeats and one washed-out no result from their four games.

With the bat they looked one-paced. Harmanpreet Kaur scored 26 but took 32 balls to do so. Without Ecclestone's late burst - she hit the last two deliveries for four - they would have been even further short.

With the ball they were similarly disappointing, looking largely toothless.

They did not help themselves in the field either, dropping Matthews on 49 and 54 - albeit tough chances.

There was also a missed run-out opportunity and Laura Jackson had Redmayne caught at deep extra cover, only for the delivery to be ruled a no ball as it reached the batter above waist height.