Hundred Men’s Competition 2024: London Spirit register their maiden win

London Spirit vs Welsh Fire – Match 10th Report

The 10th game of The Hundred Men’s Competition was held on August 1. It went on to be another low-scoring but nerve-racking encounter. London Spirit defeated the Welsh Fire by 3 wickets with 13 balls to spare at the iconic Lord’s. It was quite a show of the saying that cricket is a game of uncertainties, through its dramatic turns and moves with a thrilling end.

The Welsh Fire, having batted first, couldn’t get into their rhythms as the London Spirit bowlers wreaked havoc, with Player of the Match Liam Dawson. The Fire struggled to just 94/9 in their 100 balls. A flicker of hope came from Luke Wells, who struck 23 off 8 balls with two fours and two sixes.

But the rest of the batting lineup fell under the pressure. Jonny Bairstow added 12, skipper Tom Abell contributed 12, but neither was enough to set a testing target. Dawson’s spell of 3/10 from his 20 balls was the cornerstone of ripping through the batting order of Fire. He was well supported by Nathan Ellis, who came good for three wickets for 16 runs.

The London Spirit chase got off to a shaky start, with Matt Henry’s fine upfront spell that saw the top order crumble, as he took 3 for 19. Michael Pepper, Adam Rossington, and Ollie Pope were the men to go. Then Haris Rauf further squeezed with 3 for 20, including the key wickets of Dan Lawrence and Ravi Bopara.

Despite such early setbacks, Dan Lawrence held the innings together with an important 29 off 27 balls, steered by Shimron Hetmyer’s aggressive yet composed 30 not out off 21 balls. Hetmyer’s two fours and two sixes were pretty instrumental in turning the momentum right back at London Spirit. Under intense pressure—losing wickets left and right—Hetmyer demonstrated his skill to see his team home to the target.

By then Liam Dawson had been dismissed for 4 but he had done a lot of damage with the ball already. It was left to the calmness of Hetmyer and a few vital runs from the lower order that saw the London Spirit cross the finish line at 96/7 in 87 balls.