ALL-ROUNDER Naomi Dattani was "chuffed" with his first-ever five-wicket haul during Southern Vipers' defeat to Sunrisers.
Sunrisers claimed a five-run victory to reach the knockout stages of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy for the first time after beating holders Southern Vipers in a rain-affected thriller.
Grace Scrivens’ side failed to win a match in the first three editions of the competition, before narrowly missing out on qualification last year.
But after fifties for Cordelia Griffith and Lissy MacLeod set them up for 281 in the face of former Sunriser Dattani’s maiden five-wicket haul, they restricted Vipers to 88 in their 10-over search for 94 for their seventh win of the tournament.
Despite a winless return from The Hundred, holders Vipers had already qualified for next Saturday’s semi-final and had hopes of a home tie ended by South East Stars victory over Northern Diamonds.
Vipers will face Stars in their semi-final, while Sunrisers will travel to Diamonds – the winners of those matches will face off at Leicester on September 21.
Dattani said: "Winning would have taken us to the semi-finals with momentum so there was enough to play for. No one wanted to get on the bus to Leeds again, we only did it a few days ago.
"It was a big challenge to get 94 and everyone went out there with great intent and fundamentally we were only six runs short. It was a great effort.
"It is a strange one to take five wickets against my old team. It is the first five for of my whole career in any form of cricket so I'm chuffed to get it.
"Over the past few years, I've struggled to get the ball in my hand for enough overs so it has been really nice to come here and have a genuine role with the ball. I have felt really comfortable in this environment."
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