The Analysis: London Spirit limp over finishing line after fast start punishes mediocre Phoenix total

NICK FRIEND looks back on the key moments from London Spirit's three-wicket win over Birmingham Phoenix

Knight's knowhow plans for Verma

From the way in which Freya Davies celebrated the wicket of Shafali Verma, one suspects the plan to attack the Indian superstar with a back-of-the-hand slower ball was a strategy devised alongside Heather Knight, perhaps even during the preceding multiformat series between England and India.

Davies ran straight to Knight to embrace, having fooled the 17-year-old with a delivery that dipped under Verma’s attempted swipe.

Take yourself back a matter of weeks to Verma’s battles with Katherine Brunt, who also utilised a range of slower balls against her. Given the simplicity of the youngster’s gameplan – showing her stumps and clearing her front leg – it appears a sensible ploy. Not for the first time this summer, Verma was early on the shot and lost her leg-stump.

Such is the competition’s format, Verma will almost certainly win a game off her own bat at some stage, but bowling coaches will have taken notice of her dismissal.

The Jones Dilemma

In a 100-ball innings, there simply isn’t enough time to hide Amy Jones down at No.5. With every passing moment of Birmingham Phoenix’s batting effort, that became increasingly obvious.

There were only 41 deliveries between her entrance to the crease and her subsequent departure for 33 off 17 balls, but it was difficult in that time to shake the notion that her efforts were a class above anything else served up by her team.

Verma, of course, is a shoo-in at the top of Birmingham’s order, but otherwise their line-up seemed skewed and slightly confused. Katie Mack, for example, was drafted in late on to replace Ellyse Perry, but that is not to say she should have slotted into the role that the great Australian allrounder would likely have fulfilled. She struggled for seven off eight balls, missing out on two full tosses before skewing a third back into the grateful hands of Deandra Dottin.

^{Amy Jones was the star for Birmingham Phoenix, who must find a way to push herself up the order}

Eve Jones caught up well after a slow start to make 47 off 41 balls – in this shorter format, though, that is possibly too slow a contribution. It wasn’t for a lack of trying; she swung hard but picked out fielders almost from the very start of her knock, while the gamble to send in Emily Arlott to give it the long handle backfired and further delayed the entrance of the wicketkeeper-captain who – let it not be forgotten – was opening the innings for England at last year’s T20 World Cup.

She has since shuffled down into a packed middle order at international level – between Knight and Sophia Dunkley – but in this competition, with its brevity and the importance placed on each delivery, Jones should surely be maximising her time in the middle.

Dottin the allrounder

In eight games for West Indies against Pakistan earlier this month, Deandra Dottin didn’t bowl a ball. So, how reassured Heather Knight must have been by her efforts at Edgbaston, getting through her 20 deliveries unscathed, with the wickets of Mack and Eve Jones her reward.

Before facing England last year in five T20Is, the allrounder went a far longer period without bowling as she sought to return to fitness.

She was quiet with the bat today but – like Verma – is sure to take down a bowling attack at some stage.

Issy Wong's first wicket of #TheHundredpic.twitter.com/4BKwS4yM3n

— The Cricketer (@TheCricketerMag) July 23, 2021

Spirit start fast before limping to the finish

It’s still too early to understand quite what represents a good score in The Hundred, but Naomi Dattani’s early burst for London Spirit – without Tammy Beaumont –  seemed to have done the bulk of the legwork for her side in chasing down Birmingham Phoenix’s modest total.

And even after her dismissal, Knight and Deepti Sharma appeared to be easing their team to victory in their first game.

But once the England captain fell, uncharacteristically missing an attempted heave over the legside off the bowling of Kirstie Gordon – one of two Scottish spinners, along with Abtaha Maqsood, in Phoenix’s line-up – for a brief period the London outfit rather lost their composure: Chloe Tryon chipped to mid-off, Susie Rowe was cleaned up by an Arlott yorker and Sharma slapped a full toss at deep midwicket as three wickets fell in four balls without a run being added.

A cameo from Amara Carr prevented further panic, before Dani Gibson finished off proceedings with boundaries from the only two balls she faced. A win for Knight and plenty to think about for Birmingham, whose bowling attack threatened to make up for their shortcomings with the bat.

Kirstie Gordon was impeccable for the most part, while Erin Burns’ 20-ball spell cost just 15 runs. In front of a decent, encouraging Edgbaston crowd – 6,317 spectators came through the gates for the first part of today's doubleheader – another 10 runs might just have seen a different outcome.