London Spirit defeated Oval Invincibles by eight wickets to guarantee their spot in the Women’s Hundred final at Lord’s against Welsh Fire.
The side made it to their first final since the competition’s start thanks to a disciplined bowling display and a half-century from Georgia Redmayne. This also guaranteed that all eight teams, from the men’s and women’s categories, would have appeared in the Hundred final.
Spirit chose to bowl after winning the toss. In the second set, Winfield-Hill struck three boundaries off Danielle Gibson, bringing the Invincibles to 21 for 0 after ten balls. Charlie Dean then trapped Paige Scholfield lbw for five runs.
Following Sarah Glenn’s introduction, Winfield-Hill, the captain of the Invincibles, slapped back a return catch to make the score 37 for 2.
By the midpoint of their innings, the Invincibles were up to 54 for 2, thanks to some tight bowling from the Spirit spinners, Dean, Glenn, and Deepti Sharma, who together had taken 2 for 25 from 30 deliveries.
After dropping Alice Capsey twice before, Gibson eventually got rid of her for thirty runs, and Kapp was bowled out by Glenn for a run-a-ball of 26.
Then, with figures of 3 for 24, Dean paired twice with Gibson in the deep to dismiss Mady Villiers and Laura Harris; Gibson’s sustained valour in snaring Villiers was one of the tournament’s highlights.
When Grey came back for the last five overs, the Invincibles were 113 for 9, having already dismissed MacDonald-Gay with the first ball and stumped Smale.
Opening batsman Redmayne struck an undefeated 53 from 47 balls as the team chased 114 to win. Captain Heather Knight provided excellent assistance with a polished 36 not out.
After the powerplay, Spirit was 33 for 0, with Meg Lanning and Redmayne both making good 21 from 14 and avoiding difficult chances against Villiers and Harris.
In order to send Knight to the crease, Marizanne Kapp came back into the attack and had Lanning caught behind for 22. Amanda-Jade Wellington then had Cordelia Griffith stumped, leaving the Spirit on 42 for 2.
Spirit proceeded to reach their destination with ease, with Redmayne and Knight maintaining a continuous stand of 74.
Redmayne, the Meerkat Match Hero, stated: “We entered this game with a lot of positivity, so it’s pretty fantastic.
“In the games we’ve played against them in the past, we were definitely defeated by Oak. We were confident that our side could win the match and advance to the Lord’s final, which would be fantastic, if we followed the easy steps.”
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“It’s nice knowing what kind of intent you’ve got to go in with,” she stated during her innings. It is helpful to have kept for a hundred balls beforehand, but occasionally you can become a little carried away when you’re up against some very terrific bowling up front.”
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