London Spirit vs Birmingham Phoenix at Lord’s (London, St John’s Wood) on 27 July 2024
Spirit chalked-up their highest score on a ‘really good pitch’ before their home crowd of 16,600 (said to be 5th highest number of spectators for the Women’s Hundred.) Spirit’s second win sent them top-of-table with two wins from two matches played-to-date. Australian batters on both sides scored ‘fifty;’Spirit’s Meg Lanning (Australia) received POTM ‘Meerkat match hero’ cap-and-medal for scoring her winning ‘fifty’ [53 runs (from 41 balls).] Phoenix top-scorer Elysse Perry 65(48) partnered by Sophie Devine (NZ) had ‘work to do,’ to score at more than two-runs-per-over from Spirit’s bowlers, who were implemented for ‘good control.’ England’s Sarah Glenn (pictured) bagged the first 4-fer of the new season taking 4 wickets for 22 runs; breaking the partnership between ‘world-class batters’ Elysse Perry and Sophie Devine. Inevitably, with the asking rate remaining above two-runs-per-ball, Phoenix fell short and slumped to their twelfth defeat ‘on the bounce.’ Introduced for SKY Sports Cricket by Ebony Rainford Brent MBE (broadcaster Director Women’s cricket at Surrey & former England international), Natalie Germanos (broadcaster & actress from Rep. South Africa TV) Nasser Hussain OBE, (broadcaster & former England international), Robert ‘Crofty’ Croft MBE (Welsh cricketer, former England international), Eoin Morgan (former England international) and Dinesh Karthik (former India international.)
*Spirit’s innings *skipper Heather Knight with international players Meg Lanning, Erin Burns and Georgia Redmayne (Australia); [Amy Jones keeping wicket for Phoenix]; *Georgia Redmayne was ‘run-out’ by Amy Jones; *After 25 balls power-play 46/1; *Cordelia Griffith was caught aerial at ‘cover’ by Suzie Bates bowled by Katie Levick; *Midway after 50 balls, 83/2; *Heather Knight was caught at ‘long-on’ by Ellyse Perry from Hannah Baker’s ‘full-toss’; *6 wickets fell from last 14 balls for just 8 runs, four of which fell during Katie Levick’s final set-of-five; *After surviving a height-check dismissal ruling, Danni Gibson was caught behind by Amy Jones from Emily Arlott; *Two balls later Erin Burns was caught at ‘long-off’ by Ellyse Perry from Emily Arlott for a second-ball duck; *Sarah Glenn was stumped by Amy Jones from Katie Levick; *Two balls later, Meg Lanning was caught by Seren Smale from Katie Levick; *Next ball, Eva Gray was ‘run-out’ at the non-striker’s end for a first-ball duck from Issy Wong’s throw to Katie Levick; *Charlie Dean was ‘run-out’ by Sophie Devine’s throw to Amy Jones, from Katie Levick’s final ball; *Spirit’s batting: *Meg Lanning 53(41), Heather Knight 26(18), Cordelia Griffith 21(10), Danni Gibson 15(15); *Phoenix’s bowling: Katie Levick 3/24 Emily Arlott 2/22;
Phoenix’s innings: *skipper Elysse Perry (Australia), with other international players Sterre Kalis (NL), Suzie Bates & Sophie Devine (New Zealand); *[Georgia Redmayne keeping wicket for Spirit] *Sterre Kalis was bowled by Tara Norris’ fourth ball in-swinger; *After 25 balls power-play 25/1 (vs 46/1); *Suzie Bates was ‘run-out’ with bat not grounded (upon review) by keeper Georgia Redmayne’s reverse flick onto the striker’s end stumps; *At mid-way (50 balls) 55/2 (vs 83/2); *Three wickets fell during the penultimate set-of-five: *Emily Arlott was caught at ‘long-off’ by Eva Gray from Sarah Glenn for a golden duck; *Next ball, top scorer Elysse Perry was caught at ‘long-on’ by Danni Gibson from Sarah Glenn; *Three balls later, Sophie Devine was stumped by Georgia Redmayne also from Sarah Glenn; *Phoenix’s batting: Elysse Perry 65(48) Sophie Devine 37(31), Amy Jones 10*not out(4); *Spirit’s bowling: Sarah Glenn 4/22, Tara Norris 1/9;
*Match result: London Spirit 147/9 (@1.4 runs-per-ball from 100/100 balls) beat Birmingham Phoenix 127/5 (@1.2 r-p-b, target 148 from 100/100 balls); by 20 runs
*Edited highlights courtesy of SKY Sports Cricket free-to-air via YouTube [14m52s] @url https://www.thehundred.com/video/4069203/london-spirit-vs-birmingham-phoenix-women-s-highlights-2024
*Fixtures @url https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/3801564/the-hundred-2024-fixtures
