London Spirit came out on top of the capital city eliminator in The Hundred in front of
an Oval crowd willing on the Oval Invincibles. Both sides fought to meet Welsh Fire
in tomorrow’s final at Lord’s but Spirit triumphed with a convincing eight-wicket win with nine balls to
spare.
It was a mixed start for the Invincibles, having been asked to bat after losing the
toss. Lauren Winfield-Hill had taken a liking to the bowling of Dani Gibson, who
would finish with figures of two for 38.
With 21 scored in from the first ten balls, it looked like the home side was on top,
only to be pegged back by the introduction of Charlie Dean, who struck with her first
delivery as Paige Scholfield had to depart lbw for five.
Spirit’s other England international, Sarah Glenn, kept the pressure on and
accounted for the Invicibles captain Winfield-Hill for 17 with a sharp caught and
bowled. The Invincibles were 37 for two after 28 balls and were looking for a
partnership to keep them on top.
Alice Capsey, with a 33 ball 30 and Marizanne Kapp 26, had rebuilt the innings
before the next six wickets fell for 30 runs.
The Spirit were excellent in the field, and they held on to the difficult chances;
Gibson had put down a couple of chances but made up for it with a catch to dismiss
Villiers for three, where she had to move forward, taking a low catch on the used
wickets that stretch across The Oval outfield.
The Invincibles were starting to look anything but, and it took a short blitz from Laura
Harris, who launched a six over the longest part of the ground and was threatening
to drag her side to a defendable total.
It was Gibson again who pouched the catch, a straightforward effort this time at deep
mid-wicket, and with the end of Harris’s innings, it felt like the Invincibles were going
to find it challenging to win, defending 113 for nine.
Spirit naming a batting line-up that batted deep gave them the confidence to see off
Marizanne Kapp. The South African international can destroy teams with the ball and
regularly does so in high-pressure situations.
Winfield-Hill used her strike bowler’s quota in the first half of the Spirit innings. Kapp
did take the vital wicket of Meg Lanning for 22, caught behind to a good reaction
catch from Winfield-Hill.
Spirit could relax slightly as the Invincibles’ fielding was not entirely up to the task;
misfields and dropped catches cost them any chance of getting back into the game.
Georgia Redmayne, the Spirit Wicketkeeper, anchored the innings with an unbeaten
53 from 47 balls, which allowed Heather Knight to swing the bat at the other end to
race to a rapid 36 from 23 balls and guide her side to a final at their home ground of
Lord’s tomorrow.
