A half-century from Lauren Winfield-Hill helped the Oval Invincibles to a decisive victory against London Spirit in front of 14,721 fans at The Hundred at the Kia Oval.
Chasing 120 points, Invincibles captain Winfield-Hill scored 61 off 40 balls, her first half-century of the season, and combined effectively with Marizanne Kapp to take what could have been a far more grueling chase with ease.
The fact that the Invincibles still had a chance at all was thanks to the heroics of Indian all-rounder Deepti Sharma in the first innings, who led the visitors from a dangerous position of 47:7 to a total score of 120:8.
Sharma and Eva Gray rebuilt their team with a record eight-wicket partnership after the Invincibles’ bowlers took a wicket each to establish an early lead – Kapp won the battle of the foreign superstars by taking Meg Lanning out with the third ball.
The game was level at half-time but Winfield-Hill batted intelligently throughout, nullifying the threat posed by the trio of Spirit spinners by manipulating the pitch and getting behind the square with ease.
There were few opportunities to do so, although Spirit could have sent Winfield-Hill to the bench had they decided to re-examine a narrow LBW decision against bowler Dani Gibson.
Kapp came in after birthday girl Alice Capsey was taken out with a blistering delivery and added new momentum to the foundation laid by Winfield-Hill, ending the comeback with nine balls to spare.
The Invincibles’ victory confirmed that the Manchester Originals tournament is over, but more importantly for the home team, they now have their fate in their own hands, with just one game remaining before the Hundred Eliminator and the Hundred Final.
London Spirit also has only one game left to play: they now have to win their last game and hope for further results to secure a place in the top three.
Player of the match: Lauren Winfield-Hill
“It’s a great feeling. It was my turn so it’s really nice to do my part, especially at the end. I’m really happy with another good performance and another win.
“The wicket had a little bit of hold. There wasn’t a lot of turn but it seemed to just hold and there was a little bit of bounce. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever played that many reverse sweeps in my whole career but it was just one of those things where it worked and I just kept doing the things that worked.
“I was determined to do well today and to be there with Kappy at the end is a really nice feeling.”
Mooney makes a lasting impression with a sensational 99 points as Originals defeat the Superchargers
Beth Mooney remained unbeaten with 99 points, the highest individual score in The Hundred this year, to lead Manchester Originals to 151-3 and a rare victory over rivals Northern Superchargers in The Hundred.
The Australian left-hander was confident and elegant throughout the game, finding gaps at will and showing a form that earns her the rank of the best batswoman in women’s IT20 cricket.
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Watch Beth Mooney of the Manchester Originals score a spectacular 99 points in the hundred-point matchup against the Northern Superchargers.
She ended up stuck on 99, agonisingly close to the women’s competition’s second hundred, when Sophie Ecclestone was run out attempting an improbable two off the last ball of the innings.
Fortunately for Mooney, she missed a personal milestone but her fine innings helped her to a win, although fellow Australian Phoebe Litchfield caused some upsets in return with an impressive innings.
Litchfield scored 45 from 29, but when she fell to the ground after a beautifully executed slower ball from her compatriot Kim Garth, the team in purple ran out of steam in their big comeback.
Kathryn Bryce still had time to score a hat trick split between her final two sets to win 5-13, giving the Originals another personal milestone on a day that had dashed their hopes of advancing in the tournament.
However, their victory prevented their Pennine rivals the Superchargers from moving to the top of the table and ensures that the battle at the top of the women’s competition is even tighter heading into the final week.
Player of the Match – Beth Mooney
“It was a lot of fun. I thought Laura Wolvaardt and I set up the game well up there and of course Kathyrn Bryce finished it off beautifully by scoring five goals there. A pretty good day for the Originals.
“A little bit (regret of not reaching 100). But if you had told me this morning that I would score that many runs, I would have taken it and also put the team in a winning position, which is most important.
“I tried my best and didn’t quite reach that milestone, but for me it’s about putting the team in a winning position and I thought 150 was probably about average.
“We saw some of the Superchargers batters take the game a little bit to the extreme and could have taken it away from us pretty quickly, but I thought we were really composed and bowled beautifully.”
What happens next?
The Hundred continues on Monday, August 12th with a doubleheader as Birmingham Phoenix Women take over Trent Rockets Women at 3 p.m., before the men’s game at 6 p.m.
The women’s match will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports+ from 2:30 p.m., followed by the men’s match from 6:00 p.m.
Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, the streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app. This will give Sky Sports customers access to over 50 percent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.
