Spirit’s winning run ended by resurgent Rockets

The Hundred women’s competition, Lord’s

Trent Rockets 149-6 (100 balls): Sciver-Brunt 51* (29); Gray 4-19

London Spirit 116 (95 balls): Knott 33 (25); Gordon 4-15

Rockets won by 33 runs

Defending women’s champions London Spirit’s winning streak came to an end as they suffered a 33-run defeat by Trent Rockets in The Hundred at Lord’s.

Set a target of 150 to win, Spirit slumped to 116 all out as spinner Kirstie Gordon starred with 4-19 for the visitors, who picked up their first win this year.

Kira Chathli and Georgia Redmayne added a patient 26 for the first wicket before Spirit slipped to 70-6, including in-form Australia batter Grace Harris departing for just eight.

Fellow Australian Charli Knott’s 33 was the only knock to rescue Spirit from a complete capitulation as spinners Ash Gardner and Gordon bowled beautifully in tandem, the former finishing with 2-14.

Earlier, England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt set up the Rockets’ challenging 149-6, scoring an unbeaten 51 from 29 balls, after Bryony Smith bludgeoned 42 from 23 at the top of the order.

Smith added 62 in just 35 balls with fellow opener Nat Wraith, but Rockets were pegged back as both were dismissed in the space of three balls by seamer Eva Gray.

Sciver-Brunt combined with Australia all-rounder Gardner for a stand of 60, though a collapse of four wickets for 11 runs at the death saw Spirit fight back strongly as Gray finished with impressive figures of 4-19.

But Sciver-Brunt reached her fifty with a six off Charlie Dean from the last ball of the Rockets’ innings, pushing them to the competitive total and adding to a difficult day for the Spirit captain as she finished with figures of 0-40 from just 15 balls.

After consecutive defeats, Rockets needed performances from their senior players to get their campaign on track and Sciver-Brunt and Gardner delivered.

They were helped by Smith and Wraith’s dynamic start, punishing Spirit’s bowlers for bowling too short and wide. Smith was the aggressor, with seven fours and a six, before she was brilliantly caught on the boundary by England’s Dani Gibson.

Sciver-Brunt delivered a masterclass in the middle phase as she picked the gaps perfectly, manipulating the field with her trademark sweeps and unveiling a glorious lofted drive over extra cover for six off Dean.

However, she was starved of the strike after Gardner departed, as Gray removed Heather Graham and Emma Jones in consecutive deliveries.

Spirit’s resurgence, led by Gray and backed up by fantastic catches from Gibson, Glenn and Dean, kept them in the game after Rockets had threatened a much higher total, but they were unable to find any fluency with the bat, raising concerns about their dependency on Harris.

Northern Superchargers’ women will be looking to keep the pressure on the top two as they take on Birmingham Phoenix at 15:00 BST.

The men’s game follows at 18:30 BST with Phoenix hoping to gather momentum after they beat leaders Oval Invincibles in their most recent game on Tuesday.