London Spirit claimed the first title after a stunning victory over Welsh Fire in The Women’s Hundred 2024 finals at the Lord’s. Chasing the target of 116, Spirit secured the victory with two balls remaining and four wickets in hand.
The Women’s Hundred 2024 winners were chasing 116 runs to win and needed six runs off in the final five deliveries after some excellent bowling from Shabnim Ismail took the game down to the wire, but the hosts managed to hold their nerve with Sharma launching Hayley Matthews to the long-on boundary to seal the deal.
Welsh Fire posted a total of 115 runs for 8 wickets after losing the toss and being inserted to bat with Jess Jonassen doing the bulk of the work posting her first fifty of the tournament.
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Captain Tammy Beaumont and Matthews looked briefly threatening at the top of the order but Spirit’s leg spinner Sarah Glenn struck twice in three balls during her brilliant spell.
Spirit lost Meg Lanning and Cordelia Griffith early in the chase before Danielle Gibson and Georgia Redmayne helped to steady the ship with a 32-run partnership that took Spirit into triple figures.
However, Ismail countered the batting threat by making Crucial breakthroughs in the innings, picking the wicket of skipper Heather Knight and Gibson, but the fast bowler was unable to keep Sharma’s six.
Spirit suffered an early blow after their opener Lanning was sent out for two by an inswinger from Ismail. Griffith attempted to drive off-spinner Georgia Davis but was sent out for 24 runs.
Heather Knight and Danielle Gibson scored 24 and 22 runs respectively before Deepti Sharma scored 16* runs in the match. Georgia Redmayne was named as the Player of the Match. While speaking in the post-match conference, “I’m not sure anything is going to top that feeling, watching Deepti hit that six. Amazing feeling, everyone played their part today, the bowlers were brilliant, especially in the middle phase.”
“They bowled really well too, especially Ismail, it was pretty nerve-wracking but we did it. I think we gathered here before the tournament started and talked about what our aims were. We wanted to be the first women’s side to reach the final in front of our home crowd at Lord’s and win the trophy and we did that,” said Georgia Redmayne.
Meanwhile, in Men’s Hundred 2024, Oval Invincibles beat Southern Brave in the finals by 17 runs at Lord’s.
Also Check: The Hundred Women’s Competition Winners, Runner-up for All Season
