The Hundred: Deepti Sharma stars as London Spirit beat Manchester Originals
| Women’s Hundred, Emirates Old Trafford |
| Manchester Originals 127-5 (100 balls): Lamb 39 (30) Ecclestone 32* (26); Sharma 2-10 |
| London Spirit 131-5 (98 balls): Knight 35 (26), Sharma 34* (23); Hartley 3-32 |
| London Spirit won by five wickets |
| Scorecard; Table |
Manchester Originals’ hopes of making it out of the group stages of the women’s Hundred are effectively over after losing to London Spirit in a fascinating back-and-forth game at Old Trafford.
India’s Deepti Sharma produced an excellent all-round performance as Spirit won with two balls to spare.
The off-spinner took 2-10 from 20 deliveries as Originals posted 127-5, with Emma Lamb top-scoring with 39 from 30 balls.
With her side struggling at 87-5 in the chase, Sharma then struck 34 from 24 balls to see her team over the line, with captain Heather Knight (35 off 26) also contributing.
The win takes Spirit to fifth in the table, with two games remaining, with Originals remaining bottom with only one win from six games.
The Sharma show
Heading into the game, Sharma, who is one of the finest players in world cricket, was yet to really set the competition alight.
While her bowling has been economical throughout, she had struggled with the bat and was out in single figures in her last three innings.
But today was a different story.
Not only did she bowl with discipline and limit Originals’ batters from scoring, she took the important wickets of South Africa duo Lizelle Lee and Mignon du Preez – arguably the home side’s two best batters.
Sharma then combined three boundaries with excellent running between the wickets – sharing an unbeaten 44-run partnership with Charlie Dean (12 off 7) to see her side home.
Franchise tournaments are all about momentum and Spirit will be hoping Sharma is peaking at exactly the right time.
More to follow.
