Southern Brave and Birmingham Phoenix secure victories in The Hundred women's competition

Leaders Southern Brave extended their unbeaten run to five matches with a five-wicket victory over London Spirit at Lord's.

Captain Sophie Molineux took 3-7 and then added 23 runs in a 52-run partnership with Maia Bouchier as Brave chased their target of 115 with seven balls to spare.

Having put Spirit into bat, Molineux struck early, removing Amy Jones (3) and Marie Kelly (0) within the space of three balls to leave the home side 10-2.

Marizanne Kapp (34) put on partnerships of 27 with opener Grace Harris (16) and Nadine de Klerk (38) but they were the only three Spirit batters to make it into double figures.

Spinners Tilly Corteen-Coleman and Sarah Glenn took two wickets apiece while Molineux returned to bowl Deandra Dottin for five as Spirit closed on 114-8.

Brave lost opener Lizelle Lee for a duck after four balls of their reply while Laura Wolvaardt and Jemimah Rodrigues fell for 13 and 12 respectively.

Bouchier pressed on, hitting a 38-ball 46 from the top of the order as she and Molineux put Brave in sight of victory, only to stumble on the line.

Both batters were dismissed with the scores level, with Bouchier stumped off the bowling of Charlie Dean and Molineux hitting the following delivery from De Klerk to Dottin, before new batter Naomi Dattani hit a winning single off her second ball.

Brave now sit eight points clear of second-placed Trent Rockets having played a game more, while Spirit remain fourth with one win, two defeats and a tie from their four matches.

Ellyse Perry and Alice Capsey starred as Birmingham Phoenix picked up their first win of the women's Hundred with a nail-biting seven-wicket victory over Welsh Fire.

Chasing 145 in front of minority shareholder and England midfielder Jude Bellingham at Edgbaston, Capsey, who had earlier picked up two wickets, hit 51 (29) and Perry an unbeaten 68 (46) to help Phoenix home with one ball to spare.

Opener Davina Perrin fell just five balls into Phoenix's chase while Tammy Beaumont couldn't capitalise on being dropped on 10, picking out Heather Graham for 14, before Capsey and Perry came together for a match-changing 86-run third-wicket stand.

Capsey's dismissal, caught cheaply at deep mid-wicket by Graham off the 82nd delivery, nearly proved the turning point, with Phoenix faltering from 24 runs required from 19 balls to needing 12 runs off the final set.

But captain Perry held her nerve, trading singles with Annerie Dercksen before dispatching Graham for a six and a four to see her side over the line.

The victory – only their third in 12 matches since the beginning of the 2025 edition – moves Phoenix off the foot of the table and into fifth place after four matches. Welsh Fire slip down to seventh, with one win and three defeats.

Earlier, the tournament's leading run-scorer Georgia Voll struck a half-century for Fire against her former side, hitting nine fours and two sixes as she top-scored with 78 (55).

The Australian put on 58 for the first wicket with Ella McCaughan and a further 35 with Sophie Devine, who hit a flurry of late boundaries in her unbeaten 35 (19), but Fire were left to rue their lethargic powerplay, posting a run-a-ball 25-0.

Capsey collected 2-24 but Lauren Filer was the pick of the bowlers, conceding just 15 runs from her 20 deliveries.