Georgia Redmayne backed up a fine effort from her bowlers as London Spirit comfortably beat city rivals Oval Invincibles to reach The Hundred final.
The Australian left-hander scored an unbeaten 53 from 47 balls as Spirit, set 114 to win, clinched an eight-wicket victory with nine balls to spare in the Eliminator at The Oval.
Invincibles dropped Redmayne on 19 – one of four drops in the innings – and the Spirit opener made them pay with a well-paced half-century in an unbroken stand of 74 with captain Heather Knight, who finished 36 not out off 23 balls.
Spirit were not without fault themselves in the field as Alice Capsey, who top-scored with 30 for Invincibles, was twice put down by Danielle Gibson.
But Knight’s side bowled brilliantly as England spinners Charlie Dean and Sarah Glenn took 3-24 and 2-15 respectively, while seamer Eva Gray was superb for her 2-13.
Gibson also claimed two wickets and a brilliant catch to remove the dangerous Laura Harris, as Invincibles subsided late in their innings, losing five wickets in the last 14 balls.
Former Australia skipper Meg Lanning got the Spirit chase off to a strong start alongside Redmayne before the innings stalled briefly after her dismissal.
But Redmayne and Knight put them back on track, ending Invincibles’ bid for a third title in four years and securing Spirit’s place in the showpiece game for the first time.
