London Spirit won The Hundred for the first time after a thrilling four-wicket victory over Welsh Fire in the final at Lord’s.
Set 116 to win, it came down to four needed from the last three balls before Deepti Sharma lofted Hayley Matthews over long-on for six.
It could all have been so different, though, as the ball burst through the hands of Fire bowler Shabnim Ismail and over the rope.
Ismail had looked like being the match-winner for Fire, taking 3-24 as she bowled Meg Lanning, Heather Knight and Danielle Gibson to keep her side in contention.
However, there was just too much on Deepti’s decisive strike as Spirit claimed the trophy on their home ground.
Knight’s team were on top at the halfway stage after an excellent bowling display, led by England spinners Sarah Glenn and Charlie Dean, restricted Fire to 115-8 despite a fine half-century from Australia all-rounder Jess Jonassen.
The pressure of the chase began to tell on Spirit until Gibson came in and struck five fours from her first six balls to give her side the momentum.
But when she was bowled by Ismail and opener Georgia Redmayne was trapped lbw by Freya Davies, the game duly went to the wire and Deepti was on hand to deliver the telling blow with two balls to spare.
