London Spirit vs Welsh Fire at Lord’s (London, St John’s Wood) on 1 August 2024
Fire’s second win came from their highest ever run-chase, with ‘superstar’ Hayley Matthews (West Indies’ skipper) inflicting Spirit’s first shock defeat. Spirit was ‘beefed-up’ with Deepti Sharma (India) replacing Erin Burns (Australia.) Top-scorer Hayley Matthews [78*not out runs (from 46 balls) received POTM ‘Meerkat match hero’ cap-and-medal from Eoin Morgan scoring her half-century from back-to-back ‘fours.’ Hayley Matthews also became leading run-scorer, overtaking team-mates Tammy Beaumont and Sophia Dunkley. Introduced by Nick ‘Knighty’ Knight (broadcaster & former England international) with Lydia Greenway (broadcaster & former England international), Charles Dagnall (broadcaster & former county player), Mark Butcher & Eoin Morgan (both former England internationals.) Hot and humid summer’s day, said to be 27-28C.
*Spirit’s innings *skipper Heather Knight with international players Meg Lanning, Deepti Sharma (replacing Erin Burns) and Georgia Redmayne (Australia); *[Sarah Bryce keeping wicket for Fire]; *Georgia Redmayne was bowled, leg-side bail sent flying by Beth Langston; *After 25 balls ‘power-play’ 37/1; *Cordelia Griffith came down-the-track and was stumped by Sarah Bryce from Georgia Davis; *Disaster struck when two wickets fell in two balls; *Firstly Heather Knight was caught at ‘extra cover’ by Georgia Elwiss from Freya Davies ; *Two balls later Meg Lanning was bowled by Freya Davies; *Midway after 50 balls, 72/4; *Following missed stumping chance, Danni Gibson was caught at ‘mid-wicket’ by Tammy Beaumont from Jess Jonassen; *Time penalty before the final set-of-five were bowled, Fire limited to three fielders positioned outside the ring; *Notable highlight of Danni Gibson partnered by Deepti Sharma scoring 67 runs from 41 balls; *Spirit’s batting Danni Gibson 41(25), Deepti Sharma 39*not out (26), Meg Lanning 31(20), Cordelia Griffith 17(12): *Fire’s bowling: Freya Davies 2/19, Georgia Davis 1/22, Beth Langston 1/26, Jess Jonassen 1/28;
*Fire’s innings: *skipper Tammy Beaumont with international players Hayley Matthews (WIndies); Jess Jonassen (Australia); without Shabnim Ismail *[Georgia Redmayne keeping wicket for Spirit]; *Tammy Beaumont went ‘leg-before’ on review to Tara Norris; *Sophia Dunkley snicked an edge behind to Georgia Redmayne from Danni Gibson; *After 25 balls power-play 42/2 (vs 37/1); *Midway after 50 balls 71/2 (vs 72/4); *Sarah Bryce was caught low at ‘backward point’ by Tara Norris from Danni Gibson; *Jess Jonassen was caught at ‘deep-mid-wicket’ by Cordelia Griffith from Sarah Glenn; *Top-scorer Hayley Matthews made ‘fifty in 37 balls;’ *Fire’s batting: Hayley Matthews 78*not out(46), Tammy Beaumont 31(29), Sarah Bryce 21(18), Sophia Dunkley 17(18), Jess Jonassen 14(10); *Spirit’s bowling: Danni Gibson 2/28, Sarah Glenn 1/ 27, Tara Norris 1/12;
*Match result: Welsh Fire 151/4 (1.5 runs-per-ball from 95/100 balls) beat London Spirit 150/5 (1.5 r-p-b from 100/100 balls) by six wickets with five balls remaining
*Full match courtesy of SKY Sports Cricket free-to-air via YouTube [03h34m00s] @url https://www.youtube.com/live/c8eU-dKvOA4
*Edited highlights courtesy of SKY Sports Cricket free-to-air via YouTube [11m12s] @url https://www.thehundred.com/video/4073177/london-spirit-vs-welsh-fire-women-s-highlights-2024#!
*Fixtures @url https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/3801564/the-hundred-2024-fixtures
