Player Of The Match
53 (41)
Perry hits 65 in chase but can’t prevent Phoenix’s 12th consecutive women’s Hundred defeat
Meg Lanning flashes one away through cover-point  •  ECB/Getty Images
London Spirit 147 for 9 (Lanning 53, Levick 3-24) beat Birmingham Phoenix 127 for 5 (Perry 65, Devine 37, Glenn 3-22) by 20 runs
Meg Lanning won the battle of the Australians at Lord’s, scoring her first half-century in the Hundred as London Spirit overcame Birmingham Phoenix, despite Ellyse Perry‘s innings of 65 in reply.
The 16,641 crowd – the fifth-highest in the history of the women’s Hundred – were treated to a competitive affair in the sunshine, momentum shifting this way and that as the big names on both sides took it in turns to stand up and be counted.
Phoenix – off the back of 11 consecutive defeats in the Hundred – looked set to spring a surprise and take it deep, and perhaps even pull off a memorable upset, but the required run-rate got away from them and three late wickets for Sarah Glenn sealed the deal for Heather Knight’s side, who have now won two from two this season.
“It felt like it got a bit more tricky as it went on,” Lanning said. “Birmingham Phoenix took the pace off a little bit, and the wicket was pretty conducive to that, so it felt like it was a bit more difficult than we had thought but it ended up a competitive total.
“With the ball it was about bowling pretty straight at the stumps and taking pace off the ball. We thought Phoenix used that really well so we wanted to do that right from the start, and we were able to hold our nerve when Devine and Perry were going. We just had to hold our nerve and we knew a chance would come.”
Earlier, Spirit – wearing a special shirt to mark their partnership with Transport for London – set off like a train. Lanning, Georgia Redmayne and Cordelia Griffith all found the boundary with regularity. Griffith’s consecutive sixes off Emily Arlott, one whipped into the Mound Stand with no shortage of flair, a particular highlight.
Off the back of her winning half-century at Utilita Bowl on Wednesday, England captain Knight added to her side’s momentum and ultimately Phoenix would have been happy to restrict Spirit to 147 for 9, with a bigger total looking likely earlier in the innings.
The smart money would likely have been on Spirit to defend their total with relative ease but Perry and New Zealand captain Sophie Devine jangled a few nerves with their partnership of 89, especially when Devine dispatched Sarah Glenn for two sixes over the leg-side.
The equation with 20 balls left was 40 runs required for Phoenix, but the boundaries dried up and Glenn’s last set of five ensured London Spirit ended day five of the Hundred top of the table with a 100% win record.
Instant answers to T20 questions
