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Oval, London: It was a London derby to remember between MI London and London Spirit at the Kia Oval on July 29. The women’s game ended in an incredibly rare tie, just the fourth ever in the Hundred’s history, and in the men’s game a monstrous 64 from 28 by South African youngster Lhuan-dre Pretorius helped Spirit stroll to the target with 11 balls remaining, making the visitors the overall winners of the derby day.
As the sweltering heat re-emerged over London, Charlie Dean won the toss and put the Spirit to bowl first. MI London openers Alice Davidson-Richards and Hayley Matthews displayed intent early on, but the intent could not match the form of Marizanne Kapp with the ball, whose trademark slower ball got Davidson-Richards caught at deep square leg by Charis Pavely.
Fellow Protean, Nadine de Klerk joined Kapp by baiting Matthews for a pull toward short fine leg where Trudy Johnson was waiting to grab on. Captain Hollie Armitage and Amelia Kerr went into consolidation mode, hand picking moments to play the boundaries. As the innings went on the track was seeming more batting friendly, aided heavily by the dry outfield, a result of the drought that has hit the UK. Armitage, feeling confident, opened her off stump attempting a glance only to be bowled by Kapp.
With 20 balls remaining at 99/4, the settled Kerr and the incoming Chinelle Henry unleashed hell upon Spirit to match the boiling conditions. The pair smashed 52 runs in the final 20 deliveries as both finished unbeaten. Kerr on 49 and Henry on 33 which she scored in just 12 balls, striking at a ludicrous 275, bringing MI London to a solid 151/4.
Spirit had a horror start as key batter Grace Harris departed on the very first ball, aiming to launch a cover drive over the cover fielders, but instead timing just high enough to land towards Armitage in the covers. Following that however, Marie Kelly went on the attack in the powerplay, putting the visitors in the driver’s seat at 40/1. Kelly was on track to single handedly see through the chase, but trying the slog she was caught at long on by Henry, ending her onslaught on 45.
Amy Jones gave a silent support to Kelly, but came alive following her wicket, trying to cover up for her low strike rate. Her and Kapp took the path carved by Kelly, bringing up their own 50 run stand in 28 deliveries. But a slog sweep from Kapp would end the duo, as Matthews found her top edge, as the mistimed shot floated to Danielle Gregory at short fine leg. Then came the big blow courtesy of Kirstie Gordon. Jones went for the slog sweep herself, better timed, just as MI London hoped as Nicola Carey stood at deep square to dismiss her on 49.
Despite the double wickets, the setup was perfect for de Klerk and Deandra Dottin to take the derby for Spirit, with 28 needed off 22 balls. After a phenomenal penultimate five from Carey, where she gave just three, Spirit needed nine in the final five to win. In comes Matthews, who after conceding a boundary on the first ball, set up the perfect bait to have de Klerk caught at deep mid-wicket.
With three needed off the last ball, Dottin swung blind and rushed with skipper Dean to complete two and end the game in a tie, just the third time in the Women’s Hundred and the first time since 2024. Unfortunately, a super over, or super five in this case was not played as they are reserved for knockout games in the Hundred, and the two London sides shared the spoils.
Expecting the pitch to get flatter, Liam Livingstone sought to put London Spirit to chase after putting his side to field first. Will Jacks and James Vince seemed unusually slow in the powerplay, but the pair used that time to get comfy in the middle, moving on the front foot after the fact. Jacks was the one taking the wheel, with captain Vince in the backseat.
The mutual support led to a 91 run opening partnership, which ended when Vince wanted to step up, playing to David Willey at long off. Not long after, Jacks’ innings was brought to an end on 65 after review for a caught-behind appeal off Jamie Overton.
Still, MI London were in a promising position passing 100 runs with 32 balls remaining but then came a frustrating rut. Overton kept causing problems dismissing Nicholas Pooran and Jason Roy, with Roy heading back after another fantastic review by Livingstone. Sherfane Rutherord however still stood in the middle and following a lengthy break after collision in the field between James Coles and Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Spirit’s momentum with the ball was disrupted, and Rutherford capitalized.
A slew of sheer power hits from the Guyanese batter, revived MI London’s innings. Rutherford would be dismissed on the final ball, scoring 41 off 19, doing enough damage to get MI London to a more respectable 164/5.
After his nasty collision, Pretorius came in guns blazing with the bat, obliterating MI London’s rotating attack with Jonny Bairstow. The carnage saw 61 runs being hammered in the powerplay by Spirit, the third highest powerplay score in the men’s competition. But MI London broke through right after, with Bairstow playing Olly Stone right down to long on to end the opening stand.
The wicket however did not slow Pretorius down as he crossed the fifty mark and then some, constantly raining down sixes, which is more than what the British sky has done in the last month or so. The fun unfortunately came to an end on 64 for Pretorius as he attempted to scoop Trent Boult over the keeper, only to nick it to Pooran’s gloves.
But the way was paved through by Pretorius and fellow South African sensation Dewald Brevis saw through the chase with ease. His stylish 37 from 18 which mainly consisted of him ‘aura farming’, showcasing the relaxed chase as Spirit took the derby with six wickets and 11 balls remaining, notching up their first points this season.
Lisa Keightly, MI London W head coach: “It would have been nice to get the two points.
I’m not lying. I think we’re starting to play some better cricket than at the start of the competition. Starting to get combinations right.”
Obviously, Dan (Dani Wyatt-Hodge) missing out today’s game on a really nice pitch, you know. But in saying that, we had some really nice partnerships, Mellie (Amelia Kerr) to get some runs. Chinelle (Henry) coming in and doing what she can do and show everyone she’s here for the Hundred.”
Amy Jones, London Spirit W: (On her batting) “I think it was probably the time after we came out and the other coaches came out and told me to back myself, back to the angles that I find. I think I got a bit caught up trying to hit down the ground when a lot of match events could be leaving that to be hit.
“Just a nice reminder of that. I think when you’re out there crafting it, you think that someone else can do a better job, and it can be quite distracting. So I think having that support definitely helped me re-focus.”
(On Marie Kelly) “She was brilliant. I thought she was just so clinical at the moment. It seems like she knows exactly what she wants to do and she commits to all of her shots. She’s a really clean striker. She has been for a long time, so it’s great to see her stepping up for us.”
Andrew Tye, London Spirit M: (On Pretorius’ innings) “It was perfect. It was very nice to watch in the dugout. It was better than having the ball in hand and having that happen to you. He just played smart, good cricket shots. For a young kid, the talent that he’s got, he can really do some amazing things.”
(On getting their first win) “We were probably bummed that we didn’t win at least one of our first two games. We were both in very winnable positions in both of them. Now that we’ve got this win and we’ve got another game on Saturday, we’ll just take the momentum and start to roll with it. Hopefully, winning becomes a habit and we can get on a roll.”
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