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Ryana MacDonald-Gay demolished London Spirit with figures of 4 for 17 and Sophie Ecclestone conceded a miserly 7 runs from 20 balls as Manchester Super Giants Women bowled the hosts out for 80 — their joint-lowest Hundred total — at Lord’s before chasing down the target in just 59 balls to win by 7 wickets in The Hundred Women’s 2026.
Lord’s had barely settled into Thursday evening when London Spirit were already in ruins. A four-wicket haul from Ryana MacDonald-Gay, the miserliness of Sophie Ecclestone, and the electric fielding of Meg Lanning combined to bundle the Spirit out for 80 — their joint-lowest total in the Women’s Hundred — before Manchester Super Giants strolled to a seven-wicket win with 41 balls to spare. It was a statement of intent from the newly renamed franchise, and a chastening evening for the home side in front of their own crowd.
London: Manchester Super Giants thrashed London Spirit by seven wickets on July 23 at Lord’s, with Ryana MacDonald-Gay taking 4 for 17 to bowl the hosts out for 80 before the Super Giants chased the target in just 59 balls. Playing their first match under their new banner after five seasons as the Manchester Originals, Super Giants could not have asked for a more emphatic opening statement.
Spirit Crumble From the First Ball
Sent in to bat first on their home turf, London Spirit found themselves in immediate trouble. Openers Grace Harris and Amy Jones fell inside the first eight deliveries, dismissed for four runs and a golden duck respectively. The tone was brutal and it never relented.
Grace Ballinger was exceptional at the top of the Super Giants’ attack, denying the Spirit any foothold in the powerplay. When she made way, Ecclestone arrived — and the match was effectively decided. Ecclestone bowled a full length outside off to remove West Indies batter Deandra Dottin for four, leaving the Spirit in serious trouble at 28 for 5.
At halfway, the Spirit had limped to 48 for 6. A minor recovery came through Charlie Dean and Nadine de Klerk, who played watchfully to move the score to 68. But both departures came in cruel fashion — Meg Lanning and Richa Ghosh combining to run out Dean, before MacDonald-Gay bowled de Klerk to leave the tail exposed. MacDonald-Gay then forced Katie George to edge behind to Ghosh to complete her four-wicket haul, Spirit bundled out for 80 with nine deliveries unused.
It was their joint-lowest total in the Women’s Hundred. The Lord’s pitch, offering variable bounce and spin, had played its part — but the Spirit’s batters had done much of the damage themselves.
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MacDonald-Gay’s Plan, Executed to Perfection
The Player of the Match was not shy about the simplicity of what Super Giants had set out to do. “The bowlers at the top really set up the game for us, taking the early wickets and I felt coming in and sticking to my plan worked really well,” MacDonald-Gay said. “We stuck to our plan and we nailed the basics and we did it really well. I felt in pretty good rhythm. Pretty confident. Coming into this game, we were really clear and just wanted to execute our basics and I think we did that.”
Ecclestone was equally measured in her assessment of conditions and execution. “That was a mega start from our girls. I feel like we set up really well. The pitch was doing a bit and we didn’t really miss. It was spinning and then it was variable bounce.” A return of 1 for 7 from 20 balls — on a ground as storied as Lord’s, in the opening match of the campaign — underlined precisely why Ecclestone is regarded as one of the finest spin bowlers in women’s cricket.
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Kapp’s Double Strike Can’t Change Outcome
Opening with the imposing pair of Smriti Mandhana and Lanning, Super Giants were watchful in the first 10 balls of the chase against the experienced Marizanne Kapp, but moved through the gears to take the score to 33 before Mandhana went lbw to Kapp on review. The South African then bowled Grace Scrivens first ball with a beauty, before Paige Scholfield took a single off the hat-trick ball — Kapp finishing with 2 for 18 from her 20. For a brief moment, Spirit fans dared to dream of something improbable.
Scholfield and Lanning brought up the Super Giants’ 50 after 40 balls, the latter then falling to Hannah Rainey with the score on 57. But the asking rate was never a concern. Paige Scholfield finished unbeaten on 22 from 15 balls, hitting the winning six off Josie Groves to complete the formality with 41 balls remaining.
Early Signals in The Hundred Women’s 2026
Two matches in and the Women’s Hundred 2026 is already producing a pattern — collapses, nerves, and dominant bowling displays deciding contests before the batters can settle. Southern Brave’s eight-run win over Welsh Fire on Wednesday was similarly bowler-driven. At Lord’s on Thursday, the bowlers didn’t just set up the game — they ended it before the halfway point of the first innings.
For Super Giants, renamed but clearly reinvigorated, a winning start in their first match under their new identity is the perfect foundation. For London Spirit, the concerns are structural — losing both openers in eight deliveries and failing to build a single meaningful partnership on their home ground is not a foundation any side can build a Hundred campaign on.
Result: Manchester Super Giants Women won by 7 wickets (with 41 balls remaining)
Player of the Match: Ryana MacDonald-Gay (MSG-W) — 4/17
Scorecard:
London Spirit Women 80 all out (91 balls) — Kapp 17, Dean 14; MacDonald-Gay 4/17, Ecclestone 1/7
Manchester Super Giants Women 86/3 (59 balls) — Mandhana 17, Lanning 21, Scholfield 22*; Kapp 2/18
