NEWS
Follow UsLondon Spirit defeated Welsh Fire in the final of the 2024 Women’s Hundred to lift their maiden trophy on Sunday (August 18) at Lord’s. In a low-scoring affair, Fire scored 115/8, with five of their eight dismissed batters getting out for 2 runs or under. In a tense finish, Spirit won by four wickets and two balls to spare
Spirit qualified for the playoffs for the first time, having finished fourth in 2021, fifth in 2022 and sixth in the 2023 season. Fire, meanwhile, finished with wooden spoons in the first two seasons and were knocked out in an abandoned Eliminator in the previous season. Hence, a new winner was in store and Spirit raced to the finish line.
After a tricky start (33/3 after 29 balls), Fire’s international stars, Jess Jonassen and Hayley Matthews revived the side with a 52-run stand off 46 balls. However, once Matthews was dismissed for 22 off 26 on the 75th ball, Fire faded again.
Georgia Elwiss, Phoebe Franklin and Ella McCaughan scored only four runs between them with the latter two getting run out. Fire scored only 31/4 off their last 25 balls as they couldn’t build on the platform provided by the fourth-wicket partnership.
Jonassen top-scored for Fire with 54 off 41 balls (eight fours). For Spirit, Sarah Glenn (2/17) and Eva Gray (2/26) did most of the damage.
Spirit had a slowish start, scoring only 56/2 after 55 balls. Georgia Redmayne, Spirit’s top-scorer with 34 off 32, picked things up with Danielle Gibson. The duo put on 32 off 15 balls with Gibson playing a cameo of 22 from nine balls (five fours).
Right before Gibson fell to Shabnam Ismail, the asking rate for Spirit had come down to less than a run-a-ball. Spirit also lost a few wickets in succession, bringing Fire into the game. The equation went down to six off the last five balls. Matthews, bowling the last over, conceded only two runs off the first two balls. Deepti Sharma then hoisted a six inches over a leaping Ismail at the long-on boundary to seal the title.
With 4️⃣ runs needed and 3️⃣ balls left, Deepti Sharma hits a 6️⃣ to WIN it! 😳#TheHundred https://t.co/u57MSy7ga0 pic.twitter.com/i46RTvWFG1
— The Hundred (@thehundred) August 18, 2024
In fact, Deepti’s wining hit was the only six of this final. The all-rounder had a fantastic tournament with the bat, scoring 212 runs in six innings with only one dismissal. Her strike rate was an impressive 132.5. The fact that she hit six sixes in total is a big positive for India ahead of the Women’s T20 World Cup in October.
The wicketkeeper-batter, Redmayne was adjudged the Player of the Match. She was also the third-highest run-scorer in the tournament (229) with the skipper Heather Knight second on the tally with 271 runs.
Deepti Sharma is only the second Indian cricketer to win the Hundred title. Last year, Smriti Mandhana won the trophy with Southern Brave.
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