Lauren Winfield-Hill reverse-swept away the doubts, after a poor Hundred by her own high standards, to put Oval Invincibles in pole position for a top 3 finish with a good win over London Spirit at The Oval – a win at Rockets in their final group stage match will guarantee qualification for the knockouts.
Speaking after the game, Winfield-Hill admitted that she was “probably starting to lose a bit of faith” after a run of low and lowish scores (her highest in The Hundred 2024 before today was 20 versus Originals). She credited the coaching staff at Invincibles, particularly Johann Myburgh and Jonathan Batty, for giving her the belief she needed to come back at a crucial stage in the tournament with a match-winning 61 off 40 balls.
It wasn’t quite as straightforward a win as it might have been. Spirit had a nightmare powerplay, scoring just 13 runs off the first 25 balls. Marizanne Kapp was at her parsimonious best, opening the bowling with two sets on the trot taking 1-4; and Scotland’s Rachel Slater then matched her, also taking 1-4 off consecutive sets; before Ryana MacDonald-Gay stepped up to concede just 3 more runs to leave Spirit 13-2.
Cordelia Griffith had a very Cordelia Griffith stay at the crease, taking some time to settle in before hitting a cracking six over backward square which looked the business; then running herself out 3 balls later after failing to spot that Heather Knight had decided against a tight second run.
Spirit had slumped to 41-6 by the half-way point, and we were checking the record books for the lowest total in the history of the competition – Birmingham Phoenix’s 54 v the Superchargers a couple of weeks ago, since you ask! But a typically stoic rearguard action led by Deepti Sharma brought them back from the brink to post a pretty decent 120. As a youngster playing for Surrey, Eva Gray was considered allrounder material, but she has focused almost exclusively on her bowling in recent years, and is playing here very much as a pure bowler. However, her 28 off 22 balls on Saturday belied her tailender status, as her and Deepti put on a crucial partnership of 56.
There were a few questions asked as to why Marizanne Kapp was left with 5 balls in the bag, given that Invincibles were leaking runs like a fishing net towards the end, conceding a whopping 48 in the death phase. Lauren Winfield-Hill admitted post-match that this was partly about protecting her key asset – saying she was reluctant to bring Kapp back cold, given that she was also carded to bat at 4.
Invincibles came out to bat knowing that failing to chase 120 would make it very difficult to qualify, so the pressure was on both openers, with Chamari having had a similar run of form to Winfield-Hill prior to today – one knock of 30 and not a lot else. You can’t fault Chamari’s commitment – she was diving about in the field, giving it everything she had – and she played a couple of the most gorgeous strokes today; but unfortunately two strokes doesn’t make a summer. She chewed up 12 dots in 19 balls today – almost 20% of the innings, it is easy to forget – which left the rest with a lot of work to do.
Fortunately, Winfield-Hill was up to it, pulling out some beautifully timed reverse sweeps, unusually for her – she joked afterwards that she had only played the shot twice in her life before this innings! Alice Capsey was a little subdued, running singles to keep her strike rate ticking over, before inexplicably trying to ramp Dani Gibson, who she must know is the kind of bowler who will hit if you miss. Personally, if I was in charge, I’d have the next England batter to attempt a ramp shot summarily executed pour encourager les autres, so… it is probably just as well for everyone’s sake that I’m not, especially Alice Capsey.
Marizanne Kapp, though, came out the consummate professional, knowing what needed to be done, and the Matterhorn chart shows a perfectly timed chase, with just enough impetus to ensure that things were wrapped up before it got squeaky.
The Invincibles certainly haven’t been invincible this season, but it looks like they’ve done just enough to get through to the knockouts, where anything can happen. That’s when the value of having someone like Kapp really hits home, as it did in the 2021 final when she destroyed Southern Brave at Lord’s. With the likes of Kapp and Capsey, Invincibles have the players to beat anyone on the day, and if Winfield-Hill can make her knock today the start of a perfectly timed run of form, we could yet see the Invincibles name on the trophy for a 3rd time next weekend.
