Sunrisers Leeds Reach Women's Hundred Final After Eliminator Triumph

A clinical performance from Sunrisers Leeds saw them reach the Women's Hundred final for another year as they brushed aside Southern Brave in the Eliminator. The defending champions set up the win with a disciplined effort in the field, restricting Brave to just 114/7 before overcoming a few nervy moments towards the end to close out a five-wicket victory.

Brave's Bright Start Fizzles Out

The decision to bowl first wasn't necessarily vindicated early in the innings when Lizelle Lee went after the Sunrisers bowling attack, smashing a six and a couple of fours to give Brave a bright start. Despite allowing Jess Jonassen to bowl five straight dot balls to her, Lee recovered to go on the offensive again, adding three more boundaries before a top leg-break from Hannah Baker removed her from the crease.

Despite Lee's efforts, the run rate was kept in check by Sunrisers given Maia Bouchier made a stuttering start at the other end. Kate Cross and Deepti Sharma then struck in succession to remove Laura Wolvaardt and the struggling Bouchier, shifting the momentum completely.

Brave just didn't stage a recovery as they kept losing regular wickets. Sophie Molineux and Charli Knott made contributions, but no one was allowed by the Sunrisers bowling attack to explode in the back end of the innings as Brave crawled to 114/7.

Sunrisers Survive Late Scare

Brave still made a meal out of the chase as Lauren Bell and Issy Wong removed the openers to put Sunrisers under early pressure. Lauren Winfield-Hill and Annabel Sutherland hit some timely boundaries and managed to put the chase back on track before the Australian was sent packing by Sarah Glenn at a critical juncture.

Deepti then had a key role to play with the bat alongside Winfield-Hill as the duo stitched together a vital partnership that appeared to completely put Sunrisers on course for the win. However, in a late twist, with 20 needed off 24, Sunrisers lost two wickets in two balls that caused some panic in the camp.

Issy Wong had managed to breach Winfield-Hill's defence before trapping Danielle Gibson lbw first ball to give her side some hope. But that went up in smoke in pretty quick fashion as Deepti and Jess Jonassen hit two boundaries each in the space of 10 balls to put the game to bed.

Final Awaits

The defending champions will now face Trent Rockets in the final on Sunday.

Brief scores: Southern Brave Women 114/7 in 100 balls (Lizelle Lee 32; Hannah Baker 2-13) lost to Sunrisers Leeds 116/5 in 89 balls (Lauren Winfield-Hill 37, Deepti Sharma 28*; Issy Wong 3-21) by 5 wickets.