Oval Invincibles vs London Spirit at at the Kia Oval (London South) on 11 August 2024
Re-run of last week’s London derby (4 August) upon which occasion points were shared for a tie. Strangely by coincidence, the same three Spirit batters reached double-figures (Deepti Sharma, Cordelia Griffith and Eva Gray) as batters struggled against Invincibles’ world-class bowling attack (that included Marizanne Kapp and the competition’s leading wicket-taker Amanda-Jade Wellington.) By comparison, unlike before, the pitch was expected to play to batter’s rather than bowler’s advantage. Receiving POTM ‘Meerkat match hero’ cap-and-medal from Stuart Broad, Lauren Winfield-Hill (pictured) said that she was ‘determined’ to put-in a ‘good performance,’ making top-score [61*not out runs (from 40 balls).] Chalking-up her first skipper’s ‘fifty’ this season, Lauren Winfield-Hill also scored the winning ‘single’ and carried her bat. Invincibles comfortable win sends them top-of-table, second only to Welsh Fire on equal points but with slightly lower net-run-rate with three rounds remaining. Separately, 7th-placed Manchester Originals find themselves eliminated from the battle for qualification beyond the group stage, as the consequence of this result. Commentators for SKY Sports were Lydia Greenway OBE (broadcaster & former England international), Charles Dagnall (broadcaster & former county player), Alex Tudor (former England International) with guest commentator Stuart Broad CBE (former England International). Before the match, Ebony Rainford Brent MBE (Commentator, Director of Surrey & Chair of Surrey’s ‘African Caribbean Engagement Programme’ ACE Programme), interviewed Charlie Dean and Sarah Glenn (both Spirit players & England Internationals.) Weather: hot, mainly with clear blue sky, 25C
*Spirit’s innings *skipper Heather Knight with international players Meg Lanning, & Georgia Redmayne (Australia) and Deepti Sharma (India); *[Lauren Winfield-Hill keeping wicket for Invincibles]; *As before, disaster struck straight away, this time when Meg Lanning went ‘leg-before’ upon ‘superb’ review from Marizanne Kapp’s ‘jaffa’ pitching outside-off, swinging-back to hit leg-stump for a third-ball duck – said to have been ‘just as before’; Georgia Redmayne was caught aerial at ‘mid-off’ (to the left-hander) by Amanda-Jade Wellington from Rachel Slater’s ball drifting wide; *After 25 balls ‘power-play’ 13/2; Cordelia Griffith ‘called too early’ and was ‘run-out’ by Ryana MacDonald-Gay’s throw to Marizanne Kapp; at the non-striker’s end; *’Looking sheepish,’ Danni Gibson was short-lived, when hit-on-the shin and quickly departed ‘leg-before’ to Ryana MacDonald-Gay for a second-ball duck; *’Big wicket’ Heather Knight lobbed a returned-dolly that was caught-and-bowled ‘easily’ by Amanda-Jade Wellington; *With ‘good glove-work,’ Abbey Freeborn was ‘stumped’ by keeper Lauren Winfield-Hill, from Mady Villiers; *Midway after 50 balls, Spirit were ‘in deep trouble’ on 41/6; *’Lacking commitment’ with a ’carbon copy’ dismissal to her skipper’s, Charlie Dean was caught at ‘mid-off’ by Amanda-Jade Wellington from Sophia Smale; Eva Gray ‘saved the game’ (adding 56 runs partnered by Deepti Sharma) until bowled by Sophia Smale with bails sent flying; Top-scorer Deepti Sharma closed one shot short of ‘fifty;’ *Spirit’s batting Deepti Sharma 46*not out (30), Eva Gray 28*(22); Cordelia Griffith 17(14); *Invincibles’ bowling: Sophia Smale 2/25, Marizanne Kapp 1/11, Rachel Slater 1/16, Mady Villiers 1/20, Ryana MacDonald-Gay 1/21, Amanda-Jade Wellington 1/24;
*Invincibles’ innings: *skipper Lauren Winfield-Hill, with international players Chamari Athapathatu (Sri Lanka); Amanda-Jade Wellington (Australia); Also Marizanne Kapp (Rep. South Africa); [Georgia Redmayne keeping wicket for Spirit]; *After 25 balls ‘power-play’ 29/0 (vs 13/2); *Missing a sweep, ’Chamari Athapathatu went ‘leg-before’ to Sarah Glenn; *At mid-way (50 balls) 59/1 (vs 41/6); *On her birthday, Alice Capsey was bowled ‘middle-and-leg’ missing Danni Gibson’s slower-ball; Lauren Winfield-Hill made top-score with ‘fifty,’ carried her bat and hit the winning run from Charlie Dean’s ‘full toss;’ *Invincibles’ batting:Lauren Winfield-Hill 61*not out (40), Marizanne Kapp 30*not out(18), Alice Capsey 13(14), Chamari Athapathatu 11(19); *Spirit’s bowling: Danni Gibson 1/19, Sarah Glenn 1/26;
*Match result: Oval Invincibles 121/2 (@1.3 run-per-ball, target 121 from 91/100 balls) beat London Spirit 120/8 (1.2 r-p-b, from 100/100 balls): by eight wickets (with 9 balls remaining)
*Full match courtesy of SKY Sports Cricket free-to-air via YouTube [03h37m10s] @url https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkWlin4-GDk
*Results with link to match centre for edited highlights courtesy of The Hundred (Women) @url https://www.thehundred.com/results?year=2024
*Fixtures @url https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/3801564/the-hundred-2024-fixtures
