‘The Hundred’: London Spirit Women v Oval Invincibles Women – at Lords on July 25
A ‘phenomenal’ maiden ‘fifty’ by 16 y.o. Alice Capsey won her the ‘Hero Of The Match’ award in front of 10-11,000 Lords spectators (plus TV & other audience.)
Playing without opener Tammy Beaumont, Spirit were reportedly ‘too dependent’ on their skipper Heather Knight. Twice during the closing stages of the game, Knight’s batters faced hat-trick balls (from Tash Farrant and Dane van Niekerk.) Invincibles played minus Marizanne Kapp (rested)
‘The Hundred’s’ fifth match was broadcast live (commentators included, Rob Key, Nasser Hussain, Simon Doull, and Mel Jones) from SKY Sports, YouTube. Also, cricket social media included espn (with Alan Gardner and Karthik Krishnaswamy.)
*Top scoring for Invincibles, sixteen-year-old Alice Capsey (59 runs from 41 balls) made her ‘phenomenal’ maiden fifty.
*Alice Capsey later told NZ sports personality Simon Doull that she was ‘feeling great’ with ‘excitement for the women’s game’
Batting first, Invincibles lost two quick wickets during their ‘power-play.’
*Georgia Adams fell to Freya Davies (1/27) for a second ball duck. *Skipper Dane van Niekerk 29 from 35) and newbie Alice Capsey added eighty runs for their fourth wicket
*Once Alice Capsey was caught by Freya Davies (off Naomi Dattani – 2/23) Invincibles had passed the 100-run mark, faster than one-run-per-ball (109 runs from 87 balls)
*Spirit’s reply twice faced hat-trick balls after losing two quick wickets. Firstly, at 75/4: Tash Farrant had Chloe Tryon (9) ‘leg before’ then bowled Freya Davies (0), for a golden duck.
*Similarly, two more wickets were lost when Dane van Niekerk had Heather Knight (40 from 29) caught by Grace Gibbs; and Susie Rowe (0) also went for a golden duck
* In summary, Invincibles were marginally ahead at the midway point 63/3 (compared to Spirit who were 49/3.) Spirit’s Danielle Gibson and Charlie Dean added 31 runs from the last 14 balls without loss but with sensible batting. Falling 15 runs short, victory was handed to their South London rivals
Result: Ovals Invincibles (Women) 132/7 beat London Spirit (Women) 117/7 by 15 runs
Oval Invincibles (OI-W) 132/7 (1.32 runs-per-ball) Alice Capsey 59 runs from 41 balls, Dane van Niekerk 29 from 35; Spirit bowling: Deepti Sharma 1/22, Naomi Dattani 2/23, Charlie Dean 1/13, Deandre Dottin 1/27; Fow: 1-0, 2-24, 3-29, 4-109, 5-117, 6-119, 7-132
London Spirit (LS-W) 117/7 (1.17 rpb) Heather Knight 40 runs from 29 balls, Danielle Gibson 30 (13), Deandre Dottin 14 from 15; Invincibles bowling: Dane van Niekerk 3/30, Mady Villiers 1/24, Tash Farrant 2/22; Fow: 1-19, 2-27, 3-37, 4-75, 5-75, 6-83, 7-83
Scorecard at: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/the-hundred-women-s-competition-2021-1252659/london-spirit-women-vs-oval-invincibles-women-5th-match-1252704/full-scorecard
