The fifth season of England’s Hundred competition has been launched with a blizzard of sixes, mostly hit by Australians Grace Harris and Meg Lanning.
Harris hit a competition record-equalling six sixes in her 42-ball 89no but was nearly upstaged by her former Australia captain Lanning, who hit five of them before being dismissed for 85 off 51 balls.
Her departure sealed London Spirit’s victory over capital rivals Oval Invincibles by 17 runs.
The match was the first half of a double-header at Lords to kick-off the format where both sides receive 100 balls bowled in ‘sets’ of five.
It was a stunning opening with a competition record 15 sixes in all.
Harris led the defending champions to 5-176, the second highest score in the competition’s history.
The Queenslander was brutal on former Australia teammate Amanda Jade-Wellington, who went for 38 off her 15 balls – but she did have Harris dropped on 22.
The other Australians in Spirit’s team fared less well. Georgia Redmayne, opening the innings, struggled to a six-ball duck. Charli Knott, recruited late to replace the unavailable Indian star Deepti Sharma, made one off four.
Harris put on 100 with Englishwoman Cordelia Griffith (50 off 29), a team record, in 52 balls.
“I loved it out there,” she said. “When you have a wicket like this, you want to cash in as a batter.”
On the secret to her clean hitting she suggested “genetics maybe?” before focussing on good prep, technique and an unconventional diet for an athlete.
“Three gym sessions a week. Your handspeed as well. Your feet don’t have to move well but a still base and you can time balls for six with your hands.
“A few burgers in there. I have been living on dumplings since I have been over in England and it seems to be working! No Harris is a small human being, so I will take it.”
“She is very powerful and makes it look easy,” said Lanning of Harris. “Fair play to her, she was too good.
“They set a great total and we were a bit behind. I couldn’t get going early on. Once I found some tempo, I had some momentum going.”
True enough, prior to being out Lanning went 6,4,4,6 and looked about to mastermind a heist over the team she played for last season.
There are 16 Australians in the women’s competition in all, with all but one of the eight sides having an Aussie.
This is the last season solely under the control of the England and Wales Cricket Board with large chunks of most teams sold to private owners, half of them Indian Premier League clubs.
This has raised $A1 billion for the sport in England, though that hasn’t quelled criticism from traditionalists who fear it threatens the county structure and annexes the key summer month of August.
However, besides the cash The Hundred has succeeded in its aim of attracting a new audience – this midweek afternoon women’s match drew 15,640 to Lord’s.
Meanwhile, David Warner’s debut in the Hundred fell flat, dismissed for a ten-ball nine as his London Spirit side were thrashed by Oval Invincibles in the late match.
It was his first appearance at the self-styled Home of Cricket since the Test match two years ago in which he was abused in the Long Room by members after Alex Carey controversially stumped Jonny Bairstow.
The former Australia Test opener spiced up his bow by criticising England hero Joe Root’s batting, suggesting he “take the surfboard off his front leg”, if he was to finally make an Ashes hundred Down Under.
But there was no obvious antagonism from the crowd when he ran out to open through a cloud of firework smoke as Spirit batted first.
Warner is one of the big names lured by higher paydays to add lustre to the competition, with Steve Smith and Marcus Stoinis also involved.
The 38-year-old is picking up GBP100,000 (A$205,000) and the other two GBP120,000 (A$246,000).
However, Warner was unable to follow the example set by his compatriots Harris and Lanning.
He saw little of the strike early on as Spirit struggled to adapt to a slow pitch that took spin, and hit one four before his dismissal, caught at long-on trying to whack Jordan Clark’s slower ball.
That left Spirit 3-26 from 31 balls and it didn’t get any better, being dismissed for 80, the second lowest men’s score in the competition’s five years,.
Invincibles, the defending champions, cruised to victory with six wickets and 31 balls to spare, hitting the night’s only six to win it.
Ashton Turner was Spirit’s top scorer with 21 but the Australian who did best was Invincibles’ Jason Behrendorff whose 1-17 in 20 balls included the wicket of Spirit captain Kane Williamson.
Afghanistan legspinner Rashid Khan was the star turn, taking 3-11 in 20 balls while Sam Curran claimed 3-18.
It wasn’t just a London derby, there was also a West Australian coaching clash in which Tom Moody came out well on top against Justin Langer, though as the latter observed, he’s barely had 48 hours to work with the team.
The coaching test will be where they are at when these teams meet again at the end of the league on August 25. Langer clearly has a lot more work on his hands than Moody, who’s aiming for a three-peat with Invincibles.
Australians in The Hundred 2025
Birmingham Phoenix: Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Georgia Voll
London Spirit: David Warner, Ashton Turner; Grace Harris, Georgia Redmayne, Charli Knott
Manchester Originals: Beth Mooney
Northern Superchargers: Phoebe Litchfield, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham
Oval Invincibles: Jason Behrendorff; Amanda-Jade Wellington, Meg Lanning
Southern Brave: Hilton Cartwright
Trent Rockets: Marcus Stoinis; Ash Gardner, Alana King, Heather Graham
Welsh Fire: Steve Smith, Riley Meredith, Chris Green; Jess Jonassen
