MI London Women vs London Spirit Women Match 23 Full Commentary

We are back for the chase! The MI London Women players get into a huddle before spreading out and taking their respective field positions. Grace Harris and Amy Jones are the two openers for London Spirit Women. Nicola Carey will start proceedings with the ball. Here we go...

... THE RUN CHASE ...

A costly finish for Spirit - London Spirit will be disappointed with the way they finished the innings, allowing MI London back into the contest over the final 25 balls. Marizanne Kapp once again set the tone with the new ball, returning economical figures of 1/16, while skipper Charlie Dean ripped through the middle order with three wickets in five balls. However, Dean's final set proved costly as Amelia Kerr launched three sixes to shift the momentum. Nadine de Klerk and Hannah Rainey picked up two wickets apiece, with Katie George adding one, but Spirit will feel they missed the chance to wrap up the innings much earlier. Now, it is up to the batters to step up and gun this down to get those valuable four points. Join us in a bit for the second essay.

A quick chat - London Spirit Women's Nadine De Klerk says it was a complete team effort and credits the way her side started the match for setting the tone. She adds that the quality of the bowling attack was on full display, with the experienced bowlers showing exactly why they are regarded so highly. De Klerk says Kapp is a key figure in the bowling unit, and the team is fortunate to have someone of her experience and quality. On the conditions, she says the pitch was on the slower side, although one short boundary meant the batters still had scoring opportunities. She stresses the importance of being smart with the bat by using the larger side of the ground to rotate the strike and pick up plenty of singles and twos. Nadine says securing the win remains the priority, but if the opportunity presents itself, they will also look to boost their net run rate.

Kerr fights a lone battle - MI London Women never found any rhythm with the bat, as a top-order collapse left them reeling at 23/5. Amelia Kerr and Charlie Henry briefly steadied the innings with a 34-run partnership, but Henry's dismissal sparked another slide from 57/6 to 64/8, leaving Kerr to battle on alone. Unlike the rest, she refused to throw her wicket away, producing a sensational unbeaten 69 off 41 balls, smashing four towering sixes, having not cleared the ropes even once in her previous Hundred appearances. Her late blitz dragged MI London to a respectable total, standing out as the lone bright spot in an otherwise disappointing batting display, with nine batters failing to reach double figures.

A remarkable recovery - Amelia Kerr produced a stunning late surge, smashing 25 runs off her final 9 balls to lift MI London to a highly respectable total. At one stage, they looked unlikely to even cross 100, making this a remarkable recovery. London Spirit will be left ruing the way they finished the innings, with a far bigger chase now awaiting them than they would have expected.

Nadine De Klerk will bowl the final set.

Alexa Stonehouse is the last batter in. Also, Charlie Dean to bowl the penultimate set.

Hannah Rainey is back on.

Up next - While it was the MI London Women fighting for survival, it is now the London Spirit men with their season on the line as they take on their city rivals. Another London derby awaits, with the stakes just as high. Sam Curran has won the toss and inserted Spirit into bat, so switch tabs and join us there for all the action. Cheers!

Down and out - That's exactly how it seemed when MI London slumped to 64/8, but Amelia Kerr had other ideas. Despite losing partners throughout the innings, she led a spirited counterattack, with MI London scoring 58 runs from the final 25 balls to script a special recovery.

A chase that unravelled - MI London carried the momentum from their late batting surge into the field, removing London Spirit's top three inside the first 30 balls. Charlie Dean was unable to make much of an impact either, leaving Spirit in a spot of bother. The two Proteas, Marizanne Kapp and Nadine De Klerk, then came together to steady the innings with a crucial partnership. Neither batter, however, was able to see the chase through. Deandra Dottin has not been in the best of touch of late, and having been pushed down to number 9, it proved too much to ask of her by the time she walked out to bat.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH - Amelia Kerr wins the award for her special performance. An unbeaten 69 off 41 with the bat and 1/20 with the ball. She says it is simply pleasing to come away with the win, adding that it was a great game for the crowd and even better to finish on the winning side in the London Derby. Speaking about MI London's precarious position at 64/8, she credits Kirstie Gordon for the support at the other end, saying the partnership showed great character on a tricky surface. Kerr notes that once they got past 100, reaching 120 felt like a bonus. On the conditions, Kerr explains that hitting straight down the ground was difficult early on and feels taking the pace off the ball was the key. She adds that bowlers are only human and will occasionally miss their execution, but believes sticking to the plans ultimately made the difference.

MI London Women live to fight another day - Who would have thought they would prevail when they were reeling at 64/8? London Spirit Women will be wondering how they let this one slip after having their rivals firmly on the ropes. It was a case of deja vu in the London derby for Spirit. Earlier this season, they needed 22 runs from the final 15 balls but couldn't get over the line. Today, the equation was 25 from 15, and once again they fell short.

Remember, there is no Super Five at this stage of the tournament. A four will tie the game, and it would be the second tied game of the season between these two sides.

Kira Chathli goes back to her usual position. Hayley Matthews has walked over for a chat with Nicola Carey. All three fielders outside the circle are on the leg side.

Will Hayley Matthews continue? The answer is no. It will be pace for the final set in the form of Nicola Carey. London Spirit Women need 15 runs from 5 balls.

Finally, Deandra Dottin comes out to bat. More drama as MI London Women are behind on over rate and will be allowed only 3 fielders outside the inner circle from here.

Katie George comes in next. Still no Deandra Dottin, which is a little surprising. Sending the left-handed Charis Pavely ahead of her was a bit understandable with the shorter boundary on one side, but the decision to promote the right-handed George ahead of Dottin is a more curious one.

Hayley Matthews to bowl the penultimate set with London Spirit Women needing 18 runs off 10 balls.

Kirstie Gordon returns to bowl her final set.