Jonassen lights up Welsh Fire's path to Hundred final

Australian bowler Jess Jonassen has taken three wickets as Welsh Fire progressed to The Hundred final at Lord's on Sunday with a nine-wicket victory over bottom side Southern Brave.

With West Indian opening bowler Hayley Matthews continuing her remarkable form, taking 4-14 with her off-breaks, Brave set a modest target of 104.

Matthews' all-round powers were back on show in an unbeaten 35, and, along with Tammy Beaumont's 59 from 40 balls, the visitors sailed to victory with 26 deliveries to spare.

Fire's superior run-rate means they finish above Oval Invincibles in top spot and qualify automatically for the final at Lord's on Sunday.

After Beaumont won the toss, Matthews dismissed the in-form Danni Wyatt, Maia Bouchier, Naomi Dattani and Kalea Moore to leave the Brave tottering at 7-47.

Chloe Tryon singlehandedly rescued the innings with an aggressive 55 off 38 balls, adding 52 with Rhianna Southby, as the Brave were all out for 103.

Left-armer Jonassen, who captains Queensland Fire in the WNCL, and Brisbane Heat in the WBBL, finished with figures of 3-21.

Elsewhere, Oval Invincibles came out on top by five wickets against Trent Rockets in a tense match on a slow wicket at Trent Bridge to earn the right to face London Spirit in The Hundred Eliminator at The Oval on Saturday.

It meant disappointment for Rockets' Australian star Ashleigh Gardner, who made 43 and took 2-23 in an all-round effort that was to no avail, and compatriot teammates Heather Graham and Alana King.

South African allrounder Marizanne Kapp starred with both ball and bat, taking 3-8 and scoring an unbeaten 26 to guide the Invincibles home.

Chasing 92 to win, the visitors started the chase positively, Sri Lankan star Chamari Athapaththu striking three early boundaries before falling caught at long-off to Gardner's off-spin for 16.

Captain Lauren Winfield-Hill went lbw to Graham to see the Invincibles 2-33 and they were 3-33 one ball later when King bowled Alice Capsey with a beautiful leg-break.

At halfway the Invincibles were 3-45, with Paige Scholfield looking industrious against the turning ball with her side still requiring 47.

With the rate required hovering nervously around a run a ball, Kapp launched a counter-attack, striking Graham for two boundaries to relieve some pressure before Scholfield hit back-to-back fours off Nat Sciver-Brunt to take the equation to 22 required from 30.

Scholfield fell for 26 with eight still required and Mady Villiers (1) went with seven needed, but Kapp remained cool to see the London side home with six balls to spare.

In the men's Hundred competition, Southern Brave have secured their place in Eliminator at The Oval after rain intervened in Southampton against Welsh Fire.

The sixth-placed Fire who played with freedom with their season already over, posted 181 from their 100 balls led by a 76-run partnership from Luke Wells and Glenn Phillips.

But after the umpires took the players off with just 16 balls having been bowled of the Brave's innings – a minimum of 25 balls are required to deliver a result – the rain never abated and the game was duly abandoned, gifting the Brave the one point they needed to progress to Saturday's playoff showdown against either Northern Superchargers or Birmingham Phoenix.

Sydney Thunder's Chris Green was not out three as his Trent Rockets claimed a consolation home win over Oval Invincibles with six balls to spare to end their season in a high in Wednesday's second match.

2024 Women's Hundred standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Ties T	No results N/R	Net Run Rate NRR	Deductions Ded.	Total points PTS
1 Welsh Fire Women WFW	8	5	2	0	1	0.334	0	11
2 Oval Invincibles Women OIW	8	5	2	1	0	0.033	0	11
3 London Spirit Women LSW	8	4	3	1	0	0.08	0	9
4 Northern Superchargers Women NSW	8	3	3	1	1	0.942	0	8
5 Trent Rockets Women TRW	8	4	4	0	0	0.407	0	8
6 Manchester Originals Women MOW	8	3	4	0	1	-0.398	0	7
7 Birmingham Phoenix Women BPW	8	3	4	0	1	-0.741	0	7
8 Southern Brave Women SBW	8	1	6	1	0	-0.675	0	3

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

T: Ties

N/R: No results

NRR: Net Run Rate

Ded.: Deductions

PTS: Total points

Aussies in The Hundred 2024

Women

Birmingham Phoenix: Ellyse Perry (A$76,000)

Manchester Originals: Beth Mooney (A$95,000), Kim Garth (replacement player)

London Spirit: Meg Lanning (A$95,000), Georgia Redmayne (A$33,000), Erin Burns (until late July)

Oval Invincibles: Amanda-Jade Wellington (A$57,000), Megan Schutt (replacement player), Laura Harris (until July 28)

Trent Rockets: Ashleigh Gardner (A$95,000), Alana King (A$76,000), Heather Graham (A$57,000)

Welsh Fire: Jess Jonassen (A$57,000)

Northern Superchargers: Annabel Sutherland (A$95,000), Phoebe Litchfield (A$95,000), Georgia Wareham (A$76,000)

Southern Brave: Lauren Cheatle (A$27,000), Charli Knott (until July 30)

Men

Birmingham Phoenix: Sean Abbott (A$95,000)

London Spirit: Nathan Ellis (A$191,000)

Oval Invincibles: Adam Zampa (A$191,000), Spencer Johnson (A$114,000)

Trent Rockets: Chris Green (replacement player)

Northern Superchargers: Matt Short (A$143,000), Daniel Sams (A$143,000)