Match overview
London Spirit beat Southern Brave by 47 runs at Lord's on 23 August 2025, a result that was shaped in the powerplay and confirmed at the death. Batting first, Spirit posted 186/4, anchored by a 55-run, wicket-free powerplay. Southern Brave, set 187 to win, lost 2 wickets for 49 in their own powerplay and never found the momentum to close the gap. They finished on 139/9, with their final phase yielding just 15 runs from 3 wickets. JL Smith was named Player of the Match.
The Brave had won the toss and sent Spirit in to bat, a decision backed by Lord's historical patterns: 59 per cent of toss winners at this ground choose to field. But data tendencies are not guarantees, and Spirit's top order punished the decision from the first ball. The middle overs produced 74 runs and 3 wickets for Spirit, a productive passage that kept the scoreboard ticking without the kind of collapse that might have set a more chaseable total.
For Brave, the chase required something close to a perfect innings. They started reasonably, but 49/2 at the end of the powerplay left too much to do. The middle overs yielded 75 runs but at the cost of 4 wickets, and by the time the death arrived, the equation was impossible. Fifteen runs from the final phase with 3 more wickets falling closed the book on a forgettable night for the Southampton-based franchise.
Venue and conditions
Lord's is one of the more idiosyncratic venues in The Hundred. The chase success rate across 162 matches at the ground sits at just 34 per cent, making it a difficult place to bat second. That single number goes some way to explaining why the Brave's decision to field, though statistically reasonable, carried real risk: teams batting first win nearly two-thirds of matches here.
Phase-by-phase, the ground's averages tell a revealing story. The average powerplay score is 28 runs, which makes Spirit's 55-run opening phase exceptional by comparison. Brave's 49 was closer to par, but the 2 wickets made all the difference. At the death, the ground's average is 25 runs per side, so Spirit's 57 was a significant overperformance, whilst Brave's 15 represented a collapse well below what the venue typically produces even in difficult chases.
The toss dynamic at Lord's is worth understanding. The fielding-first preference from 59 per cent of captains reflects a degree of faith in chasing that the scorecards have not historically supported. Whether that represents persistent tactical optimism or the influence of dew in evening fixtures, the numbers continue to favour the side that bats first.
How to watch
The Hundred is available live in the UK on Sky Sports Cricket, with streaming through Sky Go and NOW TV for subscribers. Channel 4 holds free-to-air rights for a selection of fixtures across the tournament, so it is worth checking their schedule for matches broadcast without a paywall. Highlights and clips are typically available through the ECB's official digital channels.
For those following across multiple formats this summer, Sky Sports also carries county cricket and international fixtures on the same subscription. The Hundred runs across late July and August, with finals day typically the last weekend of the month.
Recent form
Neither side came into this fixture in particularly settled form. London Spirit had won 2 of their previous 5 matches in the 2025 Hundred, beating Trent Rockets and Welsh Fire but losing to Northern Superchargers, Birmingham Phoenix, and Manchester Originals. A 2-3 run of form does not suggest a team operating at full confidence, which makes the 186/4 at Lord's a more significant result than the table position might imply.
Southern Brave were in a similar position, also at 2-3 across their previous 5 fixtures. Wins over Welsh Fire and Birmingham Phoenix were offset by defeats to Oval Invincibles, Trent Rockets, and Northern Superchargers. A loss here keeps them under pressure in the standings. Both sides needed points coming into this fixture; Spirit took them.
