The Hundred: Heather Knight leads London Spirit to a victory over Oval Invincibles to book place in final

Heather Knight and Georgia Redmayne led London Spirit to an eight-wicket victory over Oval Invincibles in a tense eliminator at The Kia Oval to book their place in The Hundred final.

England pair Charlie Dean (3-24) and Sarah Glenn (2-15) starred for Spirit with the ball, making immediate impact after they won the toss and elected to bowl.

Dean trapped opener Paige Scholfield (5) lbw while Glenn took a wicket with the third ball of her first set to remove Lauren Winfield-Hill (17) and break the 21-run opening partnership.

Eva Gray (2-13) and Danielle Gibson (2-38) took two wickets apiece to initiate a lower-order collapse which saw Invincibles lose four wickets in eight balls, posting an under par 113-9.

Needing 114 for victory, Spirit’s Meg Lanning (22) made a blistering start in reply before she was removed by Marizanne Kapp (19) but Invincibles struggled to break the third-wicket partnership between Knight (36no) and Redmayne (53no).

Knight was dropped twice during her 23-ball outing as the hosts struggled to break a well-crafted 74-run partnership. With Spirit needing seven from 15 balls, the England captain reverse-swept Capsey to backward point for four before Redmayne drove Alice Capsey (0-8) through the covers for another boundary to reach a 47-ball fifty, her second of the tournament, and secure Spirit’s place in the final at Lord’s on Sunday – live on Sky Sports.

Dean and Glenn shine for Spirit

Dean and Glenn struck early to dent the Invincibles’ flying start 37-2 but Capsey (30) and Kapp (26) helped their side rebuild with a 45-run stand to take them to 82-3.

The pair fell in quick succession as Capsey toe-ended a wide slow leg-cutter from Gibson behind to Redmayne before Kapp slog-swept Glenn into the deep where Lanning took the catch to dismiss both batters in the space of four balls.

Gibson struck again to disrupt Invincibles’ middle order, removing Amanda-Jade Wellington (8) who launched the pace bowler to deep backward square but found Lanning to leave Invincibles 92-5.

Dean took two wickets in the penultimate set to initiate a lower-order collapse which saw Mady Villiers (3) caught on the leg-side by a stunning catch from Gibson and Laura Harris (16) who also picked out the England all-rounder at deep mid-wicket.

Gray (2-13) struck twice in the final set, dismissing Ryana MacDonald-Gay (0) for a golden duck leaving the Invincibles stuttering on 110-8 and had Sophia Smale (1) stumped off the final ball.

Spirit victorious in tense reply

Lanning (22) made a blistering start to the chase, hitting four boundaries during her 16-ball outing but feathered Kapp behind to Invincibles’ skipper Winfield-Hill.

Cordelia Griffith (1) was dismissed cheaply after she charged down the pitch but was beaten by turn and bounce, with Winfield-Hill whipping off the bails.

Knight and Redmayne then shared their vital third-wicket partnership to leave their side needing 30 runs from 30 balls but the Invincibles dropped Spirits’ skipper twice, first on 13 and then 27.

The Spirit duo kept their cool as they led their side to victory in style, hitting Capsey for two boundaries in the final set with the former batter reaching a brilliant half-century.

Redymane relishing Lord’s final

Player of the Match, Georgia Redmayne (53no off 47 balls, 6×4):

“We came in with really good spirits.

“Oval have probably got the best of us in the games we have played but we knew if we did the simple things right – bowled in good areas and kept them to a score we could chase – we had the team to win.”

“A Lord’s final at home is going to be incredible.”

What’s next?

London Spirit meet Welsh Fire in the women’s final on Sunday at Lord’s, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 1.45pm.

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