Spirit win big to keep top-three hopes alive

London Spirit boosted their playoff hopes with a convincing eight-wicket win over Oval Invincibles. The victory also helped them snap out of back-to-back defeats that had threatened to derail their campaign.

Opting to bowl first, Spirit saw the Invincibles put on a 42-run opening stand before Charlie Dean dismissed Meg Lanning. Dean and Eva Gray returned identical figures of 2 for 11 as the Invincibles failed to build partnerships beyond the start. If not for Marizanne Kapp's 25-ball 32, they might have struggled to reach their eventual total of 108 for 8.

Spirit made light work of the chase, riding on a 105-run opening stand between Kira Chathli and Georgia Redmayne. Chathli struck a sparkling 53 off 29 balls, peppered with seven fours and two sixes, while Redmayne played the anchor with 42 off 30. Both fell within the space of three balls to Phoebe Franklin, the Invincibles' seventh bowling option, but the result was a foregone conclusion.

The chase was wrapped up with 38 balls to spare, sealing a morale-boosting win for Spirit.

Brief Scores: Oval Invincibles 108/8 (Kapp 32; Dean 2-12, Gray 2-12) lost to London Spirit 112/2 in 62 balls (Chathli 53, Redmayne 42; Franklin 2-10) by 8 wickets