Crawley in form again as Superchargers beat Spirit

The Hundred men's competition, Lord's

London Spirit 135-3 (100 balls): Pope 52* (38) Smith 41 (27); Lawes 2-34

Northern Superchargers 138-2 (82 balls): Crawley 55* (38), Lawrence 37 (22)

Superchargers won by eight wickets

Scorecard. Table

Zak Crawley continued his strong form as Northern Superchargers reclaimed their place in the top three of The Hundred men's table with a comfortable eight-wicket victory over London Spirit at Lord's.

Having been pushed down to fourth by Southern Brave's tense win at Welsh Fire earlier in the day, Superchargers moved back into third by easing to a chase of 136 with 18 balls to spare.

Sharing partnerships of 63 with Dawid Malan and 56 with Dan Lawrence, Crawley batted through for 55 not out - his second fifty of the tournament which takes him top of its' run-scoring charts.

England's Test opener, who has said he remains keen to play across all formats at international level, hit four elegant fours in the first six balls of the chase and two sixes over the leg-side as he kicked for home.

"I try to keep the fundamentals the same but I anticipate more shots than I do in a red-ball game," Crawley told Sky Sports.

"That's what I have done differently this year and it has paid off."

That made light work of knocking off Spirit's 135-3 as the visitors, captained by England white-ball skipper Harry Brook and coached by England legend Andrew Flintoff, cannily restricted Spirit on a slow and tricky pitch.

Jamie Smith hit four fours and a six but scoring was a struggle after he fell, with Ollie Pope needing 38 balls for his 52 not out. Only one boundary came in the final 33 balls of Spirit's innings.

Spirit are not mathematically out of the race for a top-three finish but must win their final two games and hope a series of results go their way.

Superchargers' next match is against top-of-the-table Oval Invincibles at Headingley on Saturday.

Archer & Cartwright seal vital Brave win

The Hundred men's competition, Sophia Gardens

Southern Brave 129-8 (100 balls): Cartwright 51* (19); Henry 2-5

Welsh Fire 125-8 (100 balls): Kohler-Cadmore 25 (28); Archer 3-20

Brave won by four runs

Scorecard. Table

Earlier Southern Brave revived their Hundred campaign after three straight defeats with a crucial four-run win over Welsh Fire at Sophia Gardens.

The game was in the balance, with Fire needing 16 from the last 10 balls, but Tom Kohler-Cadmore was caught off James Coles for 25 to dent the hosts' hopes.

Matt Henry then needed a six from the final ball to win but only managed a single as Chris Jordan held his nerve, with Fire finishing 125-8 and Jofra Archer taking 3-20.

Hilton Cartwright's unbeaten 51 off just 19 balls proved the difference after Brave's innings had been floundering at 71-5 from 71 balls when he came in at number seven.

Cartwright pummelled five sixes in his knock as Brave recovered to 129-8 on a slow surface against Fire, whose hopes of qualifying for the knockouts are all-but over, with just one win from five matches.

Fire started positively with the ball as New Zealand seamer Matt Henry bowled the second-most economical spell in The Hundred men's compettion with 2-5 - Brave crawling to 18-1 after the powerplay.

James Vince's 29 was the only notable contribution from the top order as Chris Green and David Payne also took two wickets each for Fire.

In contrast, Fire made an explosive start with 46-3 from their first 25 balls as Jonny Bairstow started aggressively, whacking 22 from 10 balls before he was dismissed by Craig Overton.

Archer then removed Steve Smith for 13 before adding Luke Wells and Paul Walter to his tally as Fire's middle order buckled under the pressure.

Fire remain bottom of the table and are all but eliminated.

What is happening on Thursday?

Oval Invincibles and Trent Rockets will both be hoping to bounce back from defeats in their previous matches, as the women's sides play at The Oval at 15:00 BST.

It's then a top of the table contest in the men's game, which follows at 18:30 BST.

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