Harris outshines Lanning as Spirit down Invincibles in London derby

The London derby opener of Women's Hundred 2025 was dominated by two Australians wherein Grace Harris's 89 not out trumped Meg Lanning 85 as defending champions London Spirit opened with a comfortable 17-run victory. Harris' heroics were aided by Cordelia Griffith's fifty as Spirit posted 176/5 on the board. Lanning anchored the chase but didn't find equal support at the other end to push her team over the line.

Put in to bat, Spirit lost opener Georgia Redmayne for a six-all duck as Marizanne Kapp struck early on the last ball of her first-10. Griffith, coming in at one down, made her intentions clear with a six and a four in consecutive balls off the returning Tash Farrant. Kira Chathli joined the party, dishing out similar treatment to Phoebe Franklin but Sophia Smale sent her packing soon after to break the budding partnership.

That's when Harris joined hands with Griffith and took over. She was the aggressor in the 100-run partnership, getting going with a six and a four off compatriot Amanda Jade-Wellington. The leggie was at the receiving end of more boundary hits from Harris, who smacked her for 37 runs of the 38 she leaked, including five boundaries in total and two sixes.

Farrant eventually got Invincibles the respite when she broke the century stand with the wicket of the opener just after her half-century, and Charli Knott soon after but Harris' relentless attack meant Spirit were on course for an above-par total. She hit three more sixes in her final nine deliveries, taking her total tally of maximums to five, to help Spirit to 176.

Invincibles chased suffered a dent on the second delivery itself when skipper Lauren Winfield-Hill was trapped LBW by Tara Norris. Alice Capsey joined hands with Lanning and briefly ignited hopes with a 13-ball cameo worth 22, dominating her 37-run stand with the Australian. Sarah Glenn broke that stand by trapping Capsey in front of the stumps, leaving Lanning to rebuild again.

Kapp and Lanning shared a 77-run stand for the third wicket that attempted to bring the Invincibles back on track. However, Issy Wong broke the threatening partnership in time by cleaning up the South African to put Spirit ahead again. Lanning, who started a timely acceleration, hit seven boundaries and five sixes in her 51-ball knock but eventually fell on the 93rd ball - to Wong - that spelled doom for Invincibles' chase.

Brief scores: London Spirit 175/5 in 100 balls (Grace Harris 89*, cordelia Griffith 50; Marizanne Kapp 2-23, Tash Farrant 2-39) beat Oval Invincibles 159/4 in 100 balls (Meg Lanning 85, Marizanne Kapp 33; Tara Norris 1-3, Sarah Glenn 1-23) by 17 runs.