England captain Heather Knight’s unbeaten 65 from 31 balls led London Spirit to a thrilling six-wicket victory over defending women’s champions Southern Brave in The Hundred.
Knight came to the crease with Spirit on 78-3 from 57 balls and needing a further 74 from 43 deliveries to overhaul Brave’s total of 151-6 at the Utilita Bowl in Southampton.
However, the England skipper hit nine fours and one six, with her final boundary, off last year’s leading wicket-taker Georgia Adams, seeing Spirit home with three balls to spare.
Knight’s England team-mate Danni Wyatt (59 off 35) earlier top-scored for Brave, having also scored a fifty in her side’s win over Northern Superchargers in last year’s final.
Sixteen-year-old Brave spinner Tilly Corteen-Coleman then made ex-Australia captain Meg Lanning (12) her first wicket in The Hundred on debut, catching the opener off her own bowling.
But Lanning’s compatriot Georgia Redmayne contributed 45 from 31 balls at the top of the order, before Knight’s match-winning innings inflicted just a second home defeat on Brave in The Hundred.
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The Hundred’s youngest-ever player, Tilly Corteen-Coleman, 16, got off to the perfect start on debut by dismissing Meg Lanning off her own bowling
Player of the Match – Heather Knight
“I tried to get in and then flicked the switch at the backend. Beating the Brave here is really tough to do so I’m really chuffed with how we went.
“They probably got 10 or 15 too many, we dropped a few catches and Danni Wyatt played a remarkable innings – she’s so hard to set fields to. But I knew if we had a set batter, with a quick outfield, we could catch up quickly.
“I didn’t have many at the start but once I was in it felt like I could really put my foot down. The scoreboard sometimes gives you no choice but to do that. It paid off.”
What’s next?
The Hundred continues on Thursday as Manchester Originals take on Welsh Fire at Emirates Old Trafford.
Both matches are live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event, as well as in a free live stream on skysports.com, the Sky Sports app and on the Sky Sports Cricket YouTube channel.
Originals Women vs Fire Women is live from 2.30pm (3pm first ball), with Originals Men vs Fire Men on air from 6pm (6.30pm first ball).
Sky Sports will show all 68 games in The Hundred live this summer, while you can also watch selected matches via free streams on Sky Sports’ digital platforms and Sky Sports Cricket YouTube channel.
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