Heather Knight guided London Spirit to a vital seven-wicket win at Headingley to eliminate opponents Northern Superchargers and keep themselves in the hunt for the knockout stages.
Knight (43no) and Deepti Sharma (37no) put on a 77-run partnership to help Spirit post 105-3 after losing the toss and being inserted to field. Their victory also takes them up to second in the table with nine points.
For Superchargers, a win would have guaranteed their place in the last three for the second successive season but their campaign is now over.
The damage was done by Spirit’s bowlers up top who removed Superchargers’ top three in just 14 balls with Tara Norris (1-6), Eva Gray (3-17) and Dani Gibson (2-17) each claiming a wicket.
Annabel Sutherland attempted a rebuild for her side but when she picked out long-on off Deepti Sharma, hopes of a formidable total for the hosts fell away leaving them on 44-4 by the halfway stage.
Alice Davidson-Richards (33) ensured the Superchargers helped keep the scoreboard ticking over but their 99-7 felt below par.
Superchargers were hunting for early wickets but Meg Lanning (20) dispatched a couple of sixes in an 11-ball 20 to get Spirit ahead of the chase.
Linsey Smith (3-16) dismissed Lanning, and briefly lifted Superchargers’ hopes after picking up the wicket of Cordelia Griffith (0) the next ball and removing Georgia Redmayne (2) cheaply, but struggled to break the partnership between Knight and Sharma.
The pair accelerated towards the end and were relatively untroubled in what could have been a pressure chase. The experienced international duo showed their class to keep Spirit hopes alive and eliminate Superchargers.
Player of the Match – Deepti Sharma
“I think all credit goes to our bowlers. We had a meeting and we executed really well.
“I think personally I’m used to these kind of conditions. The wicket is slightly on the slower side, sometimes skiddy, but we managed it really well in the first innings and the second as well.
“I like challenges and really like to bowl and bat in those kind of situations. We only focus on our games and yeah we will sit there and [watch] the other games.”
What’s next?
The Hundred continues on Wednesday August 14 with another double-header as Southern Brave take on Welsh Fire and Trent Rockets come up against Oval Invincibles.
You can watch the women’s match on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket from 11.00pm, first ball at 11.30pm, and the men’s match on Sky Sports Cricket from 2.30pm.
Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.
Source : Sky Sports
