Women's Hundred 2026, WF-W vs LS-W 31st Match Match Report, August 12, 2026

Welsh Fire won their third home game out of four and sealed a fifth-placed finish in the Hundred by beating London Spirit by 15 runs in a dead-rubber at Sophia Gardens.

Fire started brightly after being asked to bat first, revelling in the absence of Marizanne Kapp to race to 49 for 1 in the powerplay. Georgia Voll struck four early boundaries and Freya Kemp carried on the form she showed when hitting an unbeaten 45-ball 72 against Sunrisers Leeds on Sunday.

She powered her way to 26 off 14 balls with five crisp fours but her dismissal, followed by that of Sarah Bryce, with the score at 74 at the halfway mark, saw things slow dramatically. Grace Harris, Nadine de Klerk and Charis Pavely all bowled economically in the second half but it was skipper Charlie Dean who showed the way, with figures of 2 for 18 off her 20 balls to at least partially douse the Fire.

Captain Georgia Wareham ensured the strong start was not in vain, however, dominating the tail end of the innings as she struck a 34-ball half-century – including 22 from her last eight balls – to take her team up to what seemed a defendable 138 for 7.

When Spirt batted there was an end-of-term feel about proceedings, Harris departing for another single-figure score in a disappointing campaign and Marie Kelly following first ball, both falling to Grace Potts who bowled the first ten balls to take 2 for 4. After Orla Prendergast bowled five, Potts was again the destroyer, getting rid of Amy Jones to leave herself with a tidy 3 for 9 off 15.

Pavely dented Potts’ figures somewhat with three successive fours as she and Dean rebuilt but Fire kept chipping away as the required run rate spiralled.

Seren Smale and Deandra Dottin, in at No. 8, briefly threatened something special as the West Indian deposited Wareham for six but the ask was too great and the Spirit finished a dispiriting campaign by losing by 15 runs, Prendergast, Sophia Smale and Heather Graham all taking two wickets to add to Potts’ three.

Potts, named player of the match, said: “It’s always nice to start well and put the team in a good position coming out of the powerplay. There was a bit of swing up top and I just tried to bowl my best ball.

“When we have put a performance in, we have challenged the best teams. I am going to take a lot of confidence from this season. We could not qualify but it was really important for us to put up a nice performance today.”

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