London Spirit chased down 115 to beat Welsh Fire and claim The Hundred title in front of a record 22,008 fans at Lord’s.
In another tense encounter, it was left to Indian all-rounder Deepti Sharma and Charlie Dean – one-time adversaries from another tense finish at Lord’s – to get their team over the line, Sharma finishing the job with a six over long-on with just three balls left.
For a moment, Sharma’s strike hung in the air and looked set to be taken by Ismail at long-on, but there was enough on the ball for it go to all the way and bring an end to a topsy-turvy encounter that swung this way and that.
For Ashley Noffke and Heather Knight’s London Spirit, it signifies their first trophy in The Hundred.
Having opted to bowl first at the top of the day, Spirit was initially sloppy - too often straying down the leg-side - but they were soon into their work, Tara Norris seeing the back off Sophia Dunkley.
With a new batter at the crease, Charlie Dean tightened the screw – conceding no runs from her first five balls – before her leg-spinning colleague Sarah Glenn struck the first decisive blows of the game, removing Tammy Beaumont and Sarah Bryce across three balls.
That brought Hayley Matthews and Jess Jonassen together, and they utilized every ounce of their international experience to rebuild and take Fire from a potentially perilous 32-3 to an altogether more stable 84-4, by the time Matthews nicked Eva Gray behind.
Jonassen carried on to make a fine 54, the backbone of her team’s 115-8, and very much a total that had the Welsh Fire in the game.
Meg Lanning has made a habit of getting Spirit ahead of the rate in run chases but today she had to reckon with the pace and bite of Shabnim Ismail, the South African speedster too good for the former Australian captain on this occasion – dismissing her for 4.
It began a trend of Ismail taking key wickets as Fire fought gamely to defend their 115.
Running in hard and using the slope to her advantage, she clean-bowled both Heather Knight (24) and Dani Gibson (22) at times when Spirit looked set to accelerate away – Gibson in particular had threatened to steal the day, hitting five fours from her first six balls to change the momentum of the game, but even after getting her side ahead of the game she was no match for Ismail’s fire.
Unfortunately for Welsh Fire, Ismail’s heroics weren’t enough to claim the spoils. Spirit’s chase was built around Georgia Redmayne, who made a steely 34, and laid the foundations for Knight, Gibson and Sharma to secure the trophy for London Spirit.
Meerkat Match Hero Redmayne said: “A long time between boundaries, Ismail bowled great and took key wickets. I don't think you ever feel in control in a final, but so proud in front of a record crowd at Lord's."
Welsh Fire captain Tammy Beaumont said: "I'm so proud of the girls to fight like they did. At the time-out, it was there to lose. Gutted, we'd have loved to win. We've got in some good people, Gareth [Breese] and I had a vision to make it more than just a franchise that you turn up to. We were ten light with the bat, but credit to Spirit, they kept taking wickets through the middle."
Welsh Fire’s remarkable journey, from finishing 8th in 2021 and 2022, to 3rd in 2023, and now runners-up in 2024, sets the stage for another thrilling campaign next year.