Manchester Super Giants 86 for 3 (Scholfield 22*, Kapp 2-18) beat London Spirit 80 (Kapp 17, MacDonald-Gay 4-17) by seven wickets
A dominant bowling display saw Manchester Super Giants kick off their campaign in The Hundred with a seven-wicket win over London Spirit at Lord’s.
Asked to bat first on what would prove to be a slow surface, Grace Harris kicked off the London Spirit innings imperiously, pumping the first ball of the game from Grace Ballinger down the ground for four. Ballinger had the last laugh, however, having the Australian caught by Ecclestone at mid-on four balls later.
Amy Jones then feathered behind from her first delivery to leave Spirit 5 for 2 after eight balls. Marizanne Kapp hit a four and two sixes off Maitlan Brown, but the introduction of MacDonald-Gay quickly saw the back of both her and Marie Kelly.
Ecclestone then took the wicket of the dangerous Deandra Dottin, bowled through the gate, to leave the Spirit in serious trouble at 28 for 5. At halfway, the Spirit had limped to 48 for 6. A slight recovery was staged through Charlie Dean and Nadine de Klerk, the pair playing watchfully to move the score onto 68, before Meg Lanning and Richa Ghosh combined to run out Dean and MacDonald-Gay bowled de Klerk.
Opening with the imposing pair of Smriti Mandhana and Lanning, Super Giants were watchful in the first 10 balls of the chase against the experienced Kapp, but moved through the gears to take the score to 33 before Mandhana went lbw to Kapp on review.
The South African then bowled Grace Scrivens first ball with a beauty, before Paige Scholfield took a single off the hat-trick ball; Kapp finishing with 2 for 18 from her 20.
Scholfield and Lanning brought up the Super Giants’ 50 after 40 balls, the latter then falling to Hannah Rainey with the score on 57. Ghosh came to the crease in a hurry and struck two sixes in her first four balls before Scholfield finished the match with a maximum of her own off Josie Groves to finish 22 not out.
Meerkat Match Hero, MacDonald-Gay, said: “I think the bowlers at the top set up the game for us taking early wickets and putting on the pressure, then I think coming in and sticking to my plans worked really well.
“We really just nailed the basics, we did really well. I felt in pretty good rhythm [coming into the game], pretty confident. It has been amazing. I have loved the change of scenery. The group is amazing. To be at Old Trafford is amazing – I can’t wait to see what energy that brings.”
