Spirit cruise past Invincibles to reach Hundred final

The Hundred women’s competition, The Kia Oval

Oval Invincibles 113-9 (100 balls): Capsey 30 (33); Dean 3-24

London Spirit 116-2 (91 balls): Redmayne 53* (47), Knight 36* (23); Kapp 1-19

Spirit won by eight wickets

Scorecard

Georgia Redmayne backed up a fine effort from her bowlers as London Spirit comfortably beat city rivals Oval Invincibles to reach The Hundred final.

The Australian left-hander scored an unbeaten 53 from 47 balls as Spirit, set 114 to win, clinched an eight-wicket victory with nine balls to spare in the Eliminator at The Oval.

Invincibles dropped Redmayne on 19 – one of four drops in the innings – and the Spirit opener made them pay with a well-paced half-century in an unbroken stand of 74 with captain Heather Knight, who finished 36 not out off 23 balls.

Spirit were not without fault themselves in the field as Alice Capsey, who top-scored with 30 for Invincibles, was twice put down by Danielle Gibson.

But Knight’s side bowled brilliantly as England spinners Charlie Dean and Sarah Glenn took 3-24 and 2-15 respectively, while seamer Eva Gray was superb for her 2-13.

Gibson also claimed two wickets and a brilliant catch to remove the dangerous Laura Harris, as Invincibles subsided late in their innings, losing five wickets in the last 14 balls.

Former Australia skipper Meg Lanning got the Spirit chase off to a strong start alongside Redmayne before the innings stalled briefly after her dismissal.

But Redmayne and Knight put them back on track, ending Invincibles’ bid for a third title in four years and securing Spirit’s place in the showpiece game for the first time.

London Spirit are heading home – and, unusually at the end of a knockout match, that is a good thing.

After a convincing win over Invincibles, they have less than 24 hours before walking out to face fellow first-time finalists Welsh Fire at Lord’s.

Redmayne and Knight got them over the line but it was the bowlers who set it up.

They expertly restricted the scoring and took wickets at opportune moments, none more so than Glenn holding on to an excellent return catch to remove Lauren Winfield-Hill when the Invincibles skipper was beginning to up the tempo.

Gray was the pick of the bowlers, varying her pace to great effect, while Gibson was the least economical of the group but took the key wicket of Capsey.

With the bat, there was a calm assuredness that you would expect of a Spirit batting line-up boasting the quality and experience of Lanning, Redmayne and Knight.

Chances were offered, Invincibles failed to take them and they were instantly forgotten.

Spirit will be confident after a strong all-round display that sets up a final at their home ground against the table-topping Fire.

London Spirit captain Heather Knight: “Really pleased. There have been a lot of nervy chases in this competition, so we were really desperate to try and get ahead early and keep that momentum going.

“Our bowlers won it for us again – they were outstanding. The spinners were outstanding again, keeping the stumps in the game.

“Eva Gray was the standout for me. She has really built into this competition.”

Oval Invincibles captain Lauren Winfield-Hill: “They bowled well and we knew we’d have to bowl really well to defend such a low total.

“Credit to them, they bowled straight and made it pretty hard work for us and it’s always difficult when you’re trying to defend such a low total.”

It’s Finals Day on Sunday. Lord’s hosts as Welsh Fire take on London Spirit for the women’s title at 14:15 BST.

Then it is the men’s final. Oval Invincibles face the winner of Saturday’s evening Eliminator between Birmingham Phoenix and Southern Brave from 18:00.

You will be able to watch both games lives on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.

You can follow ball-by-ball commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website and app.