From: Ed Mace
Oval, 14 August 2026:
A strong bowling performance and a diligent chase was enough for Sunrisers Leeds to beat the Southern Brave in The Hundred Eliminator to qualify for Sunday’s final.
Their five-wicket win means they will face the Trent Rockets who qualified automatically after topping the group.
Losing the toss and being put into bat at the Oval, the Southern Brave started well as Lizelle Lee scored a towering six off Kate Cross and a pair of fours off Cassidy McCarthy. Her runs took the Brave to 33-0 at the end of the powerplay.
The introduction of spin slowed the Brave down, as Jess Jonassen opened with a maiden set before Hannah Baker took the wicket of Lee, drawing her out of the crease as Lauren Winfield-Hill took the stumping.
It brought Laura Woolvardt alongside Maia Bouchier but both struggled to get many boundaries away. They were dismissed for eight and 15 respectively with just two fours between them to leave the Brave 56-3 after 53 balls.
Captain Sophie Molineux and Charli Knott looked to take on the bowlers but continued to toil as the variety of spin from Sunrisers stifled the run rate.
Baker’s final set took the wicket of Knott who was bowled looking to sweep, as she finished with fantastic figures of 2-13 from 20.
Molineux remained but at a strike-rate of less than a run a ball which meant the Brave were 97-4 with 10 remaining.
Deepti Sharma, who had been impressive up to this point bowled two front-foot no balls in a set of five that went for 11, but Sutherland clawed things back giving up six from the final five, taking two wickets alongside a final-ball run out.
The Brave finished on 114-7 with Molineux unbeaten on 22 from 24.
Sunrisers in reply were in trouble after great opening sets from Lauren Bell and Issy Wong left them 15-2. They took the vital wickets of Bryony Smith and Phoebe Litchfield for low scores.
Sutherland and Winfield-Hill quickly applied pressure on the other bowlers who struggled. They reached 54-2 before Sutherland top-edged one from Sarah Glenn and had to depart for 17 from 12.
Momentum continued to build for Sunrisers when Deepti Sharma came to the crease with Winfield-Hill. With 30 balls to go, just 31 was required.
The return of Bell and Wong kept the contest tight though, as Wong took two in two to leave Sunrisers on 95-5, needing 20 off 22.
Sharma remained and was joined by Jonassen and the pair’s experience took Sunrisers over the line. More runs off Sarah Glenn and a pair of boundaries off Bell guided the Sunrisers to the win with 11 balls remaining.
The win means the Sunrisers return to their second consecutive final, having won the competition last year.
Scores in brief:
Sunrisers Leeds Women beat Southern Brave Women by five wickets
Southern Brave 114-7 (Lizelle Lee 32, Charli Knott 25; Hannah Baker 2-13, Annabel Sutherland 2-31)
Sunrisers Leeds 116-5 (Lauren Winfield-Hill 37, Deepti Sharma 28*; Issy Wong 3-21, Lauren Bell 1-14)
Player of the match: Hannah Baker
