Grace Harris 89* trumps Meg Lanning 85 as Spirit start defence with win
Champions post second-highest score in women's Hundred thanks to Harris and Griffith knocks
ECB Reporters Network
05-Aug-2025 • 7 hrs ago
Grace Harris rolls out the reverse hit • PA Photos/Getty Images
London Spirit 176 for 5 (Harris 89*, Griffith 50) beat Oval Invincibles 159 for 4 (Lanning 85, Wong 2-26) by 17 runs
Grace Harris powered London Spirit to victory on the opening day of the Hundred, smashing 89 from just 42 balls to give the defending champions the perfect start in front of 15,640 fans at Lord's.
Harris, preferred by Spirit to Meg Lanning in the draft this winter, won the battle of the two world-class Australian batters, but Lanning could scarcely have done more in reply - making 85 off 51 balls to take Oval Invincibles close in their chase.
Until Lanning was dismissed, the South London team were very much in the game but it was to be Harris and Spirit's day. The big-hitting Aussie was ably supported by Cordelia Griffith in her side's total of 176 for , Griffith contributing a 29-ball 50 to help Spirit to the second-highest score in the history of the women's competition.
England's Ryana Macdonald-Gay was possibly the pick of the away team's bowlers, but there was cheer for Tash Farrant who took her first wicket in the Hundred for 1450 days following injury.
For Invincibles, no one player was able to support Lanning in the same way Griffith had backed up Harris, with cameos from Alice Capsey and Marizanne Kapp providing hope but ultimately not doing enough to overhaul such an imposing total.
For Spirit, without last year's winning captain Heather Knight, the 17-run win and the bragging rights over their London rivals signals the perfect start to their trophy defence.
Meerkat Match Hero, Harris, said: "You always want a win on the board, especially in a format like this when it's so fast. And it's great to come up against our cross-town rivals and get the wood on them, too.
"Pretty early on [it was clear it was a good wicket]. There was some good comms from the openers back to the bench and they said it wasn't doing much; bit of swing in the air but outside of that it was playing nicely. With that role in the middle you've just got to capitalise on however many balls you're going to face and we might have pinched a few singles there and it was good for us.
"I'm pretty easy [as to where she bats in the order]. I'd love to open because you get to bat for the longest but I don't really care where I end up and it's pretty good to cash in at the end so I'll take it."