London Spirit edged past Welsh Fire in a rematch of the 2024 final as they claimed a thrilling two-run win off the last ball at Sophia Gardens.
With seven needed from the last five balls and three from the final ball in Fire’s pursuit of 125, Australia’s Grace Harris held her nerve as Georgia Elwiss was brilliantly caught by Spirit skipper Charlie Dean at mid-off.
Fire had been in control of their chase at 101-2, with England opener Sophia Dunkley striking 36 and Australia’s Jess Jonassen making 29.
But Dunkley’s dismissal with 19 balls remaining gifted Spirit momentum and Fire stuttered, with Dean’s gamble with part-timer Harris to close out the game proving to be a masterstroke.
It was the second women’s match of the day to be won by two runs off the final ball, with Manchester Originals earlier hanging on to beat Oval Invincibles by the same margin.
Spirit remain unbeaten after two matches as they look to defend their title, while it is a morale-sapping defeat for Fire as they remain winless.
Fire’s bowlers started brilliantly as Spirit slipped to 85-7 after choosing to bat, but Australia all-rounder Charli Knott added a crucial 47 from 33 balls as they pushed on to 124 all out.
Kira Chathli and Georgia Redmayne added 34 for the first wicket before Fire leg-spinner Katie Levick took two wickets in two balls amid a collapse of four wickets for just one run.
Levick finished with 3-26, while former England seamer Freya Davies also starred with 3-16.
