With a fourth win on the bounce, Trent Rockets are top of the women’s Hundred table after another masterclass from Sophia Dunkley seriously dented Birmingham Phoenix‘s chances of progressing to the latter stages.

Dunkley is batting on a different plane. Having missed out on the majority of England’s World Cup journey, the Rockets star extended her lead at the top of this year’s run-scoring charts, while leapfrogging her teammate Nat Sciver-Brunt at the summit of the competition’s all-time run-scorers.

Her knock here was full of impudent cuts and deflections, allied to the kind of brutal ball-striking that saw her launch Australian legspinner Alana King 76 metres over midwicket, and propel herself to a 26-ball fifty with another maximum off the same bowler down the ground.

Even the setback of losing two greats in two balls with the score on 82 – Sciver-Brunt the first to go for 24, and then Ash Gardner bounced out first ball by Lauren Filer – failed to stem her flow.

Dunkley’s third half-century in six knocks was a masterclass in game awareness and understanding of angles. The moment Phoenix skipper Ellyse Perry plugged a gap, Dunkley found a way to exploit the field change. Her only errant move led to her downfall, caught at deep midwicket for 65 from 37, trying to launch an Alice Capsey offbreak into the stands. By that stage, the back of the game was broken, and Sophie Luff, with a flurry of boundaries, took Rockets home with 16 balls to spare.

Earlier, Davina Perrin had started energetically for Phoenix, punching her way up to 18 in the opening powerplay, but when she miscued a Kim Garth delivery to Charley Phillips at mid-on, Birmingham’s familiar problems with the bat reared up again.

Capsey’s challenging tournament continued, clean bowled by Phillips for 1, before Perry overbalanced against her compatriot Gardner to be stumped by fellow Australian, Beth Mooney. And when Tammy Beaumont was run out from a bullet throw from Dunkley, Phoenix were four down for just 55.

Phoenix were indebted to England international Emma Lamb and Annerie Dercksen for setting a workable total. In her first appearance in this year’s competition, Lamb held the innings together with a composed 45, deploying her range of sweeps and scoops to deposit four boundaries behind square, and a fifth through the covers. With Dercksen, the pair added 45, before both fell to Garth, who picked up four wickets for 23.

With Dunkley lurking, 122 was never likely to be enough and a third defeat in five leaves Phoenix up against it ahead of the knockouts.

Dunkley, the Meerkat Match Hero, said: “I just try and go out and play with freedom. Having such a good batting line-up gives us a lot of belief, and it’s just nice to go out there and play.

“We’re so brave with the bat and we just keep taking the game on. That kind of aggression has been really good, and the bowlers are really tight, so all-round it’s another really good performance.”