Matthew Henry
BBC Sport at Lord's

Dan Lawrence's all-round performance helped London Spirit return to the top of the men's Hundred table by inflicting another defeat on a sorry Welsh Fire at Lord's.

The Spirit, who suffered their first defeat of the tournament on Saturday, were lifted to 156-6 by England batter Lawrence, who top-scored with 43 from 26 balls.

There were also contributions from opener Adam Rossington and Australian number three Ben McDermott, who both scored 32, and Kieron Pollard's unbeaten 25.

Lawrence then took four wickets for just 20 runs with his part-time spin as the Fire, who have lost all six of their games, struggled at the start of their chase.

They were 23-3 after 30 balls after Lawrence took two wickets in four deliveries and, when Ben Duckett and Dwayne Pretorius shared a stand of 43 from 21 balls to give the Fire an outside chance, Lawrence bowled Duckett for 34.

Leus du Plooy struck 30 from 18 balls and Matt Critchley a rapid 21 from seven but the Fire still ended 139-9 to lose by 17 runs.

The Spirit are now level on 10 points with Trent Rockets at the top of the table but lead courtesy of their net run-rate.

The Fire, meanwhile, are bottom.

What else happened?

• There were two brilliant catches by bowler Jake Ball to dismiss Lawrence and Eoin Morgan for a three-ball duck.
• There was also an amazing boundary save by Duckett who leapt to prevent the ball going for six but could not stop himself going over the rope to take the catch.
• Pollard hit the last ball of the Spirit innings for six to boost their total.
• Left-arm bowler Chris Wood dismissed Critchley, Du Plooy and Ish Sodhi in the final five balls to close out the win and finish with 4-28.

What's next?

The Spirit's play London rivals Oval Invincibles in their next game on Saturday.

The Fire are in action again on Friday, at home against Northern Superchargers, as they seek a consolation win.

Match hero Dan Lawrence speaking to BBC Sport: "It was really nice to contribute to a good win. It was tough going with the bat at the start but I managed to catch up in the end.

"I do feel comfortable batting in middle of the order against spin. it is something I have worked hard on and its important in this format of the game. So I'm always happy to absorb a bit of pressure and catch up at the end.

"I've been guilty in the past of going too hard too early so today I wanted to score a run a ball and with the short boundary hit a couple of sixes."

On his unorthodox bowling action: "It feels really normal, but then when I watch it back it looks disgusting. But the ball came out alright. I do love my bowling and I try really hard at it."

Welsh Fire captain Ben Duckett on BBC Two: "I think personally, it was our powerplay. Unfortunately our lads couldn't get going. I think for 85% of the game we were good today.

"I'd probably say the total was under par, I knew with that short boundary, we could go big at the back end. With that short boundary we had a chance to go for it tonight.

"Moving forward, we just don't want to overcomplicate things. We were much better today than we've been in the competition so far.

"We were pretty disappointed with the last game. We could lose a couple more games but we'll be happy if we play like we did tonight."

London Spirit captain Eoin Morgan on BBC Two: "Lovely day for us to be honest. I don't think we did justice to the conditions with the bat. We were probably rescued by Dan Lawrence and Kieron Pollard.

"We bowled well and fielded very well, I am very happy with the performance.

"It's only our second home game. We love playing here, we love playing The Hundred. Just hanging out with the kids and signing autographs and taking pictures gives us so much energy.

"The Hundred is a great platform that we have in domestic cricket which can then catapult you into the international stage.

"We see in other competitions around the world how local players become domestic heroes and Dan Lawrence has done that today for the London Spirit.

"When I heard the ball was gripping, I had no hesitation in throwing the ball out to Dan [Lawrence]. He was almost like Moeen Ali today. Full credit to him today, he was exceptional.

"Not every ball is going to turn and he is a prime example of that. Having faced him in the nets, he is hard to pick up.

"I think we will miss Polly [Kieron Pollard]. I think he's an integral part of the global T20 game let alone The Hundred. I wish him all the best for the Caribbean Premier League."

Chris Wood, Jordan Thompson, Mason Crane, Liam Dawson, Nathan Ellis.

A formidable bowling attack indeed.

But Dan Lawrence outshone them all. Four wickets for just 20 runs as he dismantled Welsh Fire's batters.

After smashing 43 from 26 balls with the bat, too.

There were valiant efforts with the bat from Ben Duckett and the lower order, with Matt Critchley's remarkable 21 from seven balls giving Fire a sniff of victory, but London Spirit's bowling attack were too good.

After their one loss to Trent Rockets, they are back in top form and looking like the team to beat again.

You can check out the table as it stands here.

Aatif Nawaz
BBC Two

Outstanding performance from the home side here at Lord's.

Chris Wood pins Ish Sodhi lbw from the final ball in a fantastic finish from the quick bowler, and London Spirit get back to winning ways!

They're five wins from six - a remarkable turnaround from finishing bottom last year!

Welsh Fire, on the other hand, slump to six losses from six.

Dane van Niekerk
Oval Invincibles & South Africa captain on BBC Two

You couldn't have asked for better death bowling than we've seen tonight.

Ben Duckett, Leus du Plooy, Matt Critchley and Dwaine Pretorius all batted brilliantly for Welsh Fire tonight.

Had the top order got a better start, they'd have most likely won. Spirit definitely worthy winners, but it says a lot about the Fire batting line up - they seem to have got it pretty wrong.

Matthew Henry
BBC Sport at Lord’s

Boos from the crowd. This game looked done!

Dane van Niekerk
Oval Invincibles & South Africa captain on BBC Two

This is the amazing thing about The Hundred, you're never really out of it.

Chris Wood bowls a wide!

It's still a very difficult equation for Welsh Fire but it's got very tense all of a sudden!

Four more!

They can't... can they?

Melissa Story
BBC Radio commentator

Critchley just swatted the ball away like a particularly annoying fly.

Phil Tufnell
Former England spinner on BBC Two

Wow, that's in the top tier.

Fire 132-6published at 6 balls left

6 balls left

Need 25 runs to win

Oh that's even bigger!

Flicked with effortless ease by Critchley into the stands!

Phil Tufnell
Former England spinner on BBC Two

Critchley didn't try and hit it too hard. Just relied on his timing and strength.