The Timeline: Birmingham Phoenix Women vs London Spirit Women: Naomi Dattani and Shafali Verma star for visitors

The Hundred has seen its first away victory after London Spirit managed to chase down 128 runs at Edgbaston, despite the efforts of the Phoenix's young bowling attack

Scorecard

A flurry of wickets wasn't enough for Birmingham Phoenix to defend their total of 128 as London Spirit recorded the first away victory in The Hundred.

Eve Jones and Amy Jones led the charge for the hosts with the bat, but they just fell short of the high 130s score they would have preferred. 

The chase started well for the visitors, but a handful of quick wickets towards the end almost pushed back in Phoenix's favour, but  Spirit had enough to get over the line. Here's how it happened...

Birmingham Phoenix have been put in to bat first having lost the toss.

Ball 14: After a wait for a boundary, we get two fours in a row, both courtesy of Shafali Verma! This one’s a bit more central from Naomi Dattani, and Verma navigates it perfectly through midwicket to the rope. 21-0

Ball 17: Gone! Caught and bowled! Well, bowler Deandra Dottin isn’t overly celebrating this, because it looks like she slightly mistimed her release - but a “nice accident” for London Spirit, as the height of the ball flummoxes Katie Mack, who can only send it right back to the bowler. 22-1

Ball 24: Out - timber! Verma looks infuriated with herself. Freya Davies gets the breakthrough with a looping full toss which swings in the air towards the leg side. The youngster tries to use the height of the ball and swing for a big one, but misses as it falls, taking the leg stump.  24-2

The end of Shafali Verma 👇#TheHundred pic.twitter.com/baLNctyBIQ

— The Cricketer (@TheCricketerMag) July 23, 2021

Ball 36 - In the air and gone! Skipper Heather Knight puts herself into the attack and gets the wicket. It’s on a good length and the turn is misjudged by Emily Arlott, who strikes with the toe of the bat, flying straight a grateful Dottin at mid-off who makes no mistake. 37-3

Ball 42: Whacked back over the bowler for four! Eve Jones shows wonderful footwork here, getting her feet into position to launch a slower one back over long on, bouncing before the rope. They’ll be looking for more of those as they build into this innings. 43-3

Ball 56 - Lovely placement for four, courtesy of Amy Jones. Charlie Dean tosses this one on off, but Jones reads the movement perfectly, leans down and reverse sweeps in a clean movement to punch through backward point. 67-3

Ball 72: Put down... and six as a result. It’s Freya Davies on the square leg boundary who scurries forward to meet Amy Jones’ strike, but possibly just misread the pace on the ball as it comes straight out of her hands, and unfortunately for her side, then over the rope for our first six of the game. 95-3

Ball 76: Amy Jones goes! Big wicket. The spinner Charlie Dean comes back into the attack and gets a big fish, who was by this point hitting at over two-a-ball. Jones takes a step and comes down the track, but the ball does indeed turn, beating the edge and taking the off stump. 101-4

Ball 89: Stumped! Sharma with a clever ball and Amara Carr does the job. The flight of the ball beats Erin Burns who hurried down the track, and Carr with the gloves was quick to react, hitting the wickets in the process. 

Ball 93: Eve Jones departs! Dottin gets another. It’s a wide ball and Jones, on 47, decides to reach over and chase it, and it loops to short cover where the reliable Heather Knight moves into position for the grab. The slower ball does the trick. 120-6

So, 129 to win this one. Seems a touch short of what they’d have liked, but plenty of cricket to be played as London Spirit come into chase this down.

Ball 5: Our first boundary of this chase, as Deandra Dottin attacks the length ball from Emily Arlott. It’s not quite middled so doesn’t fly off with full pace, but enough to beat mid-off for four. 6-0

Ball 14: Gone - Lbw! Issy Wong with the breakthrough! What a moment for the 19-year-old. It’s an inswinger which catches Dottin on the pads, and an audible appeal is met with the finger. She does send it upstairs, but there is no reprieve, as hawk-eye confirms the ball was going on to topple leg-stump. Wong and the local crowd are delighted. 17-1

Ball 25: Four, four, four and now six! Naomi Dattani is going for it! It’s a length ball but it’s on leg, and Dattani, who came into the team as a replacement for Tammy Beaumont, is not waiting around. She times the shot well and blasts it over the deep square leg fielder who can only watch. Great over for the Spirit. 41-1

Ball 35: Wicket! Dattani is caught. Erin Burns, the Australian spinner, gets the key snag at the end of her first five. Good change of pace from Burns and Dattani doesn’t get the contact she desires, as the ends up clipping it to mid-on, where Shafali Verma leaps to grab it above her head. The end of a short but possibly crucial stay at the crease. 51-2

Ball 39: How’s that? Not out! This one’s cutting in from Burns and strikes Deepti Sharma on the back pad. There’s a loud appeal but it’s no good, and the Phoenix send it upstairs confidently. After a long delay to confirm there’s no ultra-edge, Hawkeye shows it was going on to clip leg stump, or “too close to call” as it’s known in The Hundred - Sharma stays but so does their review. 53-2

Ball 48: Lovely four from Knight, as Georgia Elwiss goes for a slower ball, but the England captain reads it perfectly, waits a moment and then fires it over long-off for four. 64-2

Ball 60: Bowled! That’s the end of the London Spirit skipper Heather Knight. This is a much needed wicket. The left-arm spinner Kirstie Gordon goes full this time, and Knight tries to attack it but gets her hands muddled, as the ball beats the underside of her bat and takes the stump. They’ll want another quickly. 81-3

You don't see this very often from the England captain...#TheHundred pic.twitter.com/VsSUavxLnG

— The Cricketer (@TheCricketerMag) July 23, 2021

Ball 77: Out? Bowled? No- a no-ball and a free-hit instead! Arlott goes with the full toss and it dips past Chloe Tryon's bat, taking off the bails. However, the umpire tells us it's too high. To rub salt into the wounds, Tryon drills the repeated ball for four! 108-3

Ball 78: But gone next ball! Tryon looking to repeat a similar shot, getting her bat under it to try and beat the circle, but there's not enough power and Georgia Elwiss and mid-off clasps it safely. 108-4

^{Chloe Tryon sweeps for four}

Ball 80: Bowled! Two in the over! After her disappointment with the no-ball three deliveries ago, Emily Arlott has more than atoned, as she takes out the new batter Rowe with the yorker. Edgbaston crowd coming back to life. 108-5

Ball 81: In the air and taken! What a five for Birmingham Phoenix! This time, it's Sharma who goes. Erin Burns tries a slow full toss and she takes the bait. Katie Mack at deep mid-wicket is able to make the catch after a poor contact. Still a lot to do run-rate wise, but this will help. 108-6

SHARMA GOES! 💥

Phoenix have three wickets in five balls!

Susie Rowe bowled second ball, then the key wicket of Deepti Sharma (28) - 21 more runs needed from 19 balls!#TheHundred 💯

📺 🖥️ SS The Hundred 👉 https://t.co/ROvTp3gtdt
📱 💻 YouTube 👉 https://t.co/QcDhn6lpxO pic.twitter.com/N0crtM82TI

— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 23, 2021

Ball 94: Run-out! Still just a little bit of work to do! Charlie Dean flicks into the leg side, and they look to scurry for two, but the allrounder is nowhere near home. It's thrown in by Jones and the bails dislodged by the keeper. 123-6

Ball 96: That's it! Four runs to win it for Spirit! Georgia Elwiss puts it in on leg, and it's clattered away through the leg-side by Gibson for four. That'll do! 132-7 

Eve Jones, despite being on the losing side, was named Hero of the Match. "I got off to a bit of a slow start, but I managed to catch up a bit", the batter said. "Obviously, disappointed with the result, but I think we've had two really good women's games to start the competition." 

"We said we were going to aim for 140", she said when asked about the target we set. "We left about 10 runs out there, which would have made it really close", she added.

Birmingham Phoenix: 128 runs off 100 balls, 17 4s, 1 6

London Spirit: 132 runs off 96 balls, 16 4s, 1 6

London Spirit won