Grace Harris hit her first half-century of this year’s Hundred but finished on the losing side against Sunrisers Leeds
In an unaccustomed English summer of heatwaves, Grace Harris could be forgiven for cursing her luck after a rare rain delay derailed her and London Spirit’s innings to all but end their chances of reaching the knockout stage of this year’s women’s Hundred.
It was a welcome return to form for Harris who brought up a 25-ball half-century in powering the Spirit to 1-89 at the halfway mark against Sunrisers Leeds at Headingley.
Then the rain arrived. After a lengthy break, Harris returned to the crease and was caught on the boundary second ball. In the second 50 balls of their innings, the Spirit scored 6-47 to close on 7-136.
At the competition’s most batter-friendly ground it was unlikely to be enough and Leeds chased it down with two balls and five wickets to spare.
Their trio of Australians all contributed to the home side’s effort; Phoebe Litchfield, promoted to open in place of Jess Jonassen, hit 30 off 17 balls to kickstart the chase, Annabel Sutherland anchored it with an unbeaten 37 off 21, and Jonassen, coming in as a finisher at No.7, did just that with 13 not out off five balls.
After Spirit were inserted, Harris took a while to get going, only facing three of the first 18 balls and scoring a single.
She then kickstarted her innings by launching Jonassen over her head for six as four of the next eight balls she received went to the boundary, prompting Leeds skipper Dani Gibson to bring on Melbourne Stars allrounder Sutherland.
Her first ball was gracefully dispatched back over her head for six, the third pulled behind square for four, by which stage Harris was striking at more than 200.
At the other end England wicketkeeper-batter Amy Jones was also fizzing along but having been given a life on 16 when Sutherland dropped a sharp return chance, she was caught for 24 off 20 balls.
Harris went on to hit both Jonassen and Sutherland for four to notch her first half-century of this year’s tournament, in which she and Spirit have struggled to get going with one win from five matches.
Sutherland took two catches in the deep after the rain delay and then bowled dangerous South African Marizanne Kapp (18) as the innings petered away.
The malaise continued as Bryony Smith was dropped twice off the first four balls of Leeds’ chase. The fuming bowler, Kapp, then saw her second ball to Litchfield disappear for six.
The 23-year-old from Sydney Thunder skipper was in the mood and she took Leeds to 0-57 before attempting to pull Katie George into the Western Terrace only to be caught on the boundary by Kapp.
As with Harris’s dismissal, that presaged a flurry of wickets as Leeds lost 3-2 in six balls, including Smith for 27 (21).
But Sutherland and Gibson (25 off 24) steadied the innings and after Jonassen’s cameo Sutherland hit the winning runs with a six.
“Nerves of steel,” Sutherland said of Jonassen. “Jess came out with real clarity and she’s got a beautiful swing of the bat. It was nice to see a few go to the rope from her.
“Personally, I just feel pretty level. I feel like I’m coming into different situations and adapting well. Hopefully we can win the next few games and build some momentum.”
– Main image courtesy of ECB
The Hundred 2026 women’s standings
Team
Matches played
M
Wins
W
Losses
L
Ties
T
Drawn
D
No results
N/R
Net Run Rate
NRR
Deductions
Ded.
Batting Bonus
Bat
Bowling Bonus
Bowl
Total points
PTS
1
SBW
6
5
1
0
0
0
0.399
0
0
0
20
2
TRW
5
4
1
0
0
0
1.671
0
0
0
16
3
MSW
5
3
1
0
0
1
1.043
0
0
0
14
4
SLW
5
2
3
0
0
0
0.319
0
0
0
8
5
WFW
5
2
3
0
0
0
0.251
0
0
0
8
6
LSW
5
1
3
1
0
0
-0.759
0
0
0
6
7
BPW
4
1
2
0
0
1
-2.184
0
0
0
6
8
MLW
5
0
4
1
0
0
-1.54
0
0
0
2
Legend
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
D: Drawn
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
Bat: Batting Bonus
Bowl: Bowling Bonus
PTS: Total points
Australians in the Hundred
(* denotes bought in auction)
Birmingham Phoenix
Men: Mitch Owen £130,000 (A$244,000)
Women: Ellyse Perry £100,000 (A$187,436), Alana King* £37,500 (A$70,000), Lucy Hamilton withdrawn
London Spirit
Men: Adam Zampa £190,000 (A$357,000), Andrew Tye
Women: Grace Harris £70,000 (A$131,000)
Manchester Super Giants
Women: Meg Lanning £95,000 (A$178,000), Maitlan Brown* £40,000 (A$75,000)
MI London
Women: Nicola Carey* £95,000 (A$178,000)
Southern Brave
Men: Marcus Stoinis £150,000 (A$282,000), Nikhil Chaudhary* £31,000 (A$58,000)
Women: Sophie Molineux* £47,500 (A$89,000), Lizelle Lee £27,500 (A$53,000)
Sunrisers Leeds
Men: Mitch Marsh £200,000 (A$376,000), Nathan Ellis £145,000 (A$278,000)
Women: Annabel Sutherland £130,000 (A$244,000), Phoebe Litchfield £120,000 (A$225,000), Jess Jonassen* £110,000 (A$206,000)
Trent Rockets
Men: Tim David £350,000 (A$658,000)
Women: Beth Mooney* £210,000 ($A394,000), Ashleigh Gardner £100,000 (A$187,000), Kim Garth £42,000 (A$79,000), Sam Bates £15,000 (A$29,000)
Welsh Fire
Men: Matt Short* £75,000 (A$140,978)
Women: Georgia Wareham £100,000 (A$187,000), Georgia Voll £80,000 (A$150,000), Heather Graham* £27,500 (A$52,000)
