Villiers stars as Invincibles thrash Spiritpublished at 17:53 British Summer Time 27 August 2022
Ffion Wynne
BBC Sport cricket writer
Oval Invincibles cruised into the knockout stages of The Hundred with a crushing nine-wicket win over London Spirit at Lord's.
Mady Villiers took 4-12 in an outstanding spell of bowling as Spirit were bowled out for just 80 - the third lowest total in the women's Hundred.
Amelia Kerr top-scored with 31 for Spirit but Charlie Dean, with 18, was the only other batter to reach double figures.
In reply, Invincibles openers Lauren Winfield-Hill and Suzie Bates added 55 for the first wicket to set the platform for victory.
Bates was caught behind for 31 but Winfield-Hill finished 44 not out as Invincibles reached their target with 42 balls to spare.
They join Southern Brave in securing a place in the the knockout stage.
The Invincibles remain second in the table, a place below the Brave, but could still pip them to top spot and in doing so take a direct route into the final.
Here's what also happened:
- Dani Gibson was out to Villiers from the second ball of the Spirit innings to kickstart the collapse.
- Spirit slipped to 4-2 after nine balls as Villiers also took the key wicket of Beth Mooney, the competition's leading run-scorer.
- Eva Gray and Shabnim Ismail were outshone by Villiers but bowled brilliantly to take two wickets each.
- Grace Scrivens took the only Invincibles wicket to fall, having Suzie Bates smartly caught behind by Mooney.
What's next?
- With one game each remaining in the group stages, London Spirit take on Birmingham Phoenix on Tuesday 30 August while Oval Invincibles continue their quest to finish top of the table as they take on Manchester Originals on Wednesday 31 August.