Gibson and Deepti lead London Spirit to historic victory in Women's Hundred final

London Spirit secured a hard-fought victory over Welsh Fire by four wickets. London Spirit posted a total of 118 for 6, with Tammy Beaumont top-scoring with 34 runs and Shabnim Ismail taking 3 wickets for 24 runs. In response, Welsh Fire could only manage 115 for 8, with Jess Jonassen scoring 54 runs. Sarah Glenn and Charlie Dean took 2 wickets each for London Spirit to help secure the win.

Two years on from Deepti Sharma sending Charlie Dean into despair by running her out at the non-striker's end, the pair were jumping into each other's arms on the same side of the pitch. Deepti had just struck the winning runs in the 2024 women's Hundred final, a six launched high rather than far, but far enough to send Shabnim Ismail over the sponge with it.

And with that, London Spirit were champions for the first time, and whatever diplomatic chaos that England-India ODI conclusion wrought back in 2022 had well and truly been blown out of the water. Foes were now friends. Spirit now champions. Heather Knight's charges, having grown into this tournament just in the nick of time, scraped into third place and then turned over the top two in the space of a weekend to secure championship status.

Victory over Welsh Fire by four wickets, with just two balls to spare, was perhaps closer than it should have been after restricting the league-leaders to 115, a score which relied heavily on Jess Jonassen's 54. But it was Ismail's 3 for 24 that sprinkled doubt into Spirit minds with the prime cuts of Meg Lanning, Knight and Danielle Gibson falling to some exceptional pace and movement from the South African quick. It was cruel the final moment had the ball slipping through her grasp.

Ultimately, Spirit dug deep, courtesy of a measured 34 from Georgia Redmayne, coming off the back of an unbeaten 53 south of the river 24 hours earlier in the Eliminator. Redmayne did to Fire as she had done to Oval Invincibles; pacing out the chase with a level of calm that this time was broken when Freya Davies nipped one down the slop from around the wicket to pin the left-hander in front. By the time Redmayne had departed, the ask was 12 from 11, but the nerves were evident when Abigail Freeborn was finally run out after a couple of close shaves. Thankfully for Spirit, that brought Dean's "Future England Captain" calm to the crease, which she used to charge and find a single off her only ball, handing matters back to Deepti, who finished it off in style.

Ultimately, Fire will rue a stuttering start after being asked to bat first, that was only salvaged by Jonassen's maiden half-century in this competition. Three wickets were lost in the first 29 balls. Sarah Glenn's two in three deliveries - the first accounting for Tammy Beaumont; the second sending Sarah Bryce back to the dugout with a two-ball duck - allowed Spirit to maintain control for most of the first innings.

Georgia Redmayne played another vital hand in the chase

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The 52-run stand between Jonassen and Hayley Matthews was slow to begin with, particularly as Matthews struggled for timing. But she persisted through the scratchiness, taking the score to 84 before departing for the fourth wicket, hitting the only boundary off Glenn in the process. Had Knight held on to a tough chance at cover - diving, full length, to her right, getting a hand to the ball without clutching - Matthews would have been out on nine and Fire in a host of trouble at 55 for 4.

It was at that point Jonassen stepped up a gear, lacing four boundaries in six deliveries - the first three off Gibson, the fourth off Dean - finally giving Spirit something to think about. It did not last long; just 10 runs came off the final 10 deliveries, with four wickets - two of them run-outs.

But it did at least lead to a sense of jeopardy when Ismail nipped one down the slope to bowl Knight, and then again to end Gibson's breezy, momentum-shifting cameo. Five boundaries in her first six deliveries - a couple of neat guides down to third sandwiching clubs to midwicket and through the covers - took the required runs below balls faced for the first time in the second innings, pushing Welsh Fire into a Strategic Timeout with 33 needed from 34.

Gibson's dismissal at the start of Ismail's final set ended the torrent of boundaries, but it did introduce Deepti to the crease. And though the allrounder was far from fluent upon arrival, missing out on a host of loose deliveries as she tried to manufacture sweep shots that were not quite there, there was a sense that something outlandish was in the offing as we entered the final set of the 2024 competition with six needed. Her bowling may be steady - as it was again on Sunday with 1 for 23 - but Deepti's batting is often about the devil on her shoulder.

The match-up with Matthews for the final set made sense from Fire's perspective, even if the West Indian had been expensive with 25 off her first 15 deliveries. The lack of pace meant batters had to do something different. And Deepti, charging down to just get to the pitch of the ball and contorting her wrists to heave over wide long on for the only six of the match, did just that.