LS-W vs ML-W Prediction & Preview, Match 23

LS-W

119/8 100 balls ov

ML-W won by 3 runs

ML-W

122/9 100 balls ov

Who will win LS-W vs ML-W?

Cric First AI picks London Spirit · confidence 66/100

LS-W 63.1%ML-W 36.9%

Spirit bowl first; MI London must post on a turning Lord's surface.
Left-arm spin — Barnes, Gordon — likely to own both middle phases.
Clear sky, 21C, 4mph wind: no cloud cover for seamers.
MI London still hunting a first win; neither XI confirmed.

Toss and conditions align for Spirit, but unconfirmed XIs cap certainty.

Result: ML-W won by 3 runs. Prediction missed.

Toss and conditions

Bowling first hands Spirit spin control up front and a visible target to chase.

Key factors

Grip, not seamVENUE

Dry Lord's square is gripping; spin dictated the last game here.

Spin bankLS-W

Barnes returned 4-24 recently; Kapp's control squeezes the other end.

Top-order loadML-W

Wyatt-Hodge's calf issue leaves the batting unit reliant on Sweet and Threlkeld.

Clear and stillVENUE

Clear sky, 40% humidity, light wind — no swing help for new-ball bowlers.

Projected score and key matchup

First innings: 138 — Batting first on grip, MI London par is mid-130s; Spirit chase with wickets in hand.

Francesca Sweet v Olivia Barnes: Sweet builds; Barnes attacks the stumps. If Sweet can't rotate against turn, MI London's set total shrinks fast.

Players to watch

London Spirit (Women)

Batting

Grace Harris · Avg 21.6 · SR 163.6 · last 3: 51(27) · 16(13) · 0(1)

Seren Smale · Avg 26.2 · SR 88.5 · last 3: 38(36) · 51(66) · 22(24)

Nadine de Klerk · Avg 21.2 · SR 126.2 · last 3: 4(6) · 38(28) · 13(10)

Bowling

Olivia Barnes · 2.6 wkts/inns (last 5) · last 3: 1-31 · 4-24 · 3-54

Marizanne Kapp · 1.8 wkts/inns (last 5) · last 3: 0-35 · 2-16 · 2-24

MI London (Women)

Batting

Danielle Wyatt Hodge · Avg 31.6 · SR 138.6 · last 3: 52*(42) · 12(8) · 29(20)

Francesca Sweet · Avg 26.4 · SR 97.1 · last 3: 13(12) · 19(39) · 57(52)

Eleanor Threlkeld · Avg 26.0 · SR 97.0 · last 3: 21(23) · 12(29) · 3(7)

Bowling

Kirstie Gordon · 1.6 wkts/inns (last 5) · last 3: 2-14 · 2-29 · 1-17

Hayley Matthews · 1.6 wkts/inns (last 5) · last 3: 0-16 · 2-33 · 4-22

Head-to-head and form

Sparse recent record between the sides; Lord's form, not history, drives this one.

London Spirit (Women): Spirit bowl first at home, hunting momentum after a Lord's defeat defending 114.

MI London (Women): MI London bat first without their most senior top-order name and still winless.

The story so far

A Lord's strip that held Spirit to 114 for 8 last week now confronts MI London's top order, this time with the bat forced first. Spirit's slow left-armers and Kapp's hard lengths should make anything near 140 feel like par-plus.

The chase: LS-W need 123

London Spirit, clearly. A 123 target on a true Lord's surface with Harris, Kelly and de Klerk to come is a rate, not a wall.

122/9 says MI London survived rather than scored, and Spirit only need a par rate with wickets in hand. <cite index="104-1,104-2">Totals in the 125-140 band are usually competitive in The Hundred, and chasing teams have fared reasonably at Lord's</cite> — this one sits just under that line.

Conditions: Clear sky, 22.5C, 6% cloud, 3 km/h wind, 36% humidity — negligible dew, true bounce under lights.

Spirit need 123 off 100 — 6.15 per five balls.
MI London lost 9 wickets; the surface offers bounce, not terror.
Harris at the top is the whole plan's swing factor.

Sub-par total

<cite index="106-1">No side in women's Hundred history has defended under 106</cite>; 122 is thin.

No dew relief

36% humidity and clear skies mean the ball stays grippable for Gordon all night.

Bounce cuts both ways

Fast, bouncy Lord's surface rewards Harris' cross-bat hitting as much as Matthews' hard length.

Grace Harris v Kirstie Gordon: Gordon will be thrown the ball early to stall Harris. If Harris clears the front leg and connects, the chase collapses into a formality.

Pressure points

First 25 balls: Matthews with the new ball at Harris.
Gordon's middle-phase spell — Spirit must not go quiet.
Last 20 balls only matter if Spirit lose three early.

Batting to watch