Southern Brave 117 for 5 (Rodrigues 42, McCarthy 2-14) beat Sunrisers Leeds 116 (Smith 48, Wong 3-15) by five wickets

Having been set 117 for victory, Rodrigues judged the chase to perfection, making an unbeaten 42 from 34 deliveries and receiving valuable support from Australia captain Sophie Molineux, who made 21 from 17 balls.

Brave appeared to be wobbling at 36 for 3 after Cassidy McCarthy (2 for 14) had dismissed the dangerous opening pair of Lizelle Lee and Maia Bouchier either side of Dani Gibson picking up the prize scalp of Laura Wolvaardt, but Rodrigues and Molineux steadied the ship with a fourth-wicket stand of 35.

After Molineux fell to Jess Jonassen courtesy of a fine low catch from Deepti Sharma and Annabel Sutherland removed Jodi Grewcock with a well-disguised slower ball, it fell to Naomi Dattani to hit the winning runs and continue Brave’s strong start to the campaign.

Earlier, Bryony Smith’s 34-ball 48 had formed the bedrock of SunRisers’ total of 116, the opener striking six fours and a six in an enterprising innings.

Rodrigues, the Meerkat Match Hero, said: “Our bowlers were outstanding under pressure. It wasn’t my most pleasing innings but the team won, and that’s all that matters. It was a good pitch, but some balls held up. I felt I wasn’t timing it well but I just needed to be there and build partnerships.

“One of the best things about this team is that it’s calm. I’m confident we’ll keep it the same.”