Melie Kerr’s defiant half-century and decisive death bowling from Hayley Matthews helped MI London to a belated first win of the season against capital rivals London Spirit.

Previously winless MI London somehow recovered from the depths of both 23-5 and 64-8 to defend 122 and win by three runs.

New Zealand superstar Kerr single-handedly dragged her side to their defendable total with a brilliant unbeaten 69, and Spirit fell short, despite taking it to the last ball.

Kerr said: “It was pleasing to get a win today and a great game for the crowd in the London derby, and really nice to be on the winning team! We showed a bit of maturity and mental toughness, the wicket was tricky and once we got past 100 everything was a bonus, so 120 was great.”

Following Kerr’s effort with the bat, the MI London bowling attack scrapped for every wicket, with Spirit’s batters unable to break the shackles and when the South African pair of Marizanne Kapp and Nadine de Klerk went late on, the game was up despite a couple of late Deandra Dottin boundaries.

Spirit, who have lost six in a row at HQ, lost the chance to move up the table, MI London joining them on six points with this thriller coming after an equally exhilarating tie in the reverse fixture at the Kia Oval.

Spirit’s attack made early inroads after they won the toss, restricting the visitors despite Kerr’s brilliance, which was largely responsible for 55 runs coming in the last 25 balls.

Kapp and Katie George bowled 10 each up front, at which point the score was 14-2, but it was the introduction of Charlie Dean after 30 balls that derailed MI London. She also bowled 10 straight through, picking up 3-6.

Kerr and Chinelle Henry, who had saved MI London with a stand of 55 at the Kia Oval, counter-attacked before the West Indian pulled De Klerk straight to deep square.

Kerr stood firm, striking her first competition six in her 26th game in The Hundred, hitting a second to dent Dean’s figures and then smiting her for two more for good measure, the fourth brilliantly deposited over cover.

MI London broke through early with the ball, sending back Grace Harris and Marie Kelly and when the experienced Amy Jones also went to leave the home side on 36-3, nerves started jangling.

Dean steadied things with the unflappable Kapp before she was castled, a lack of boundaries causing the pressure to mount. At the halfway stage it was 54-4 and Kapp was joined by De Klerk, the two playing with common sense to take the score to 93 before Kapp chipped match-winner Kerr to midwicket.

With the tension mounting, De Klerk picked out deep square having been dropped the ball before. Dottin, held back to No 9, hit successive fours but it was too little too late as MI London broke their duck.

What is happening in The Hundred on Friday?

Friday sees a single double-header as Birmingham Phoenix women’s team host SunRisers Leeds from 3pm before the men’s sides square off from 6.30pm. Catch both fixtures live on Sky Sports.

Watch every match of The Hundred through to the finals on Sunday August 16. Watch The Hundred and more contract-free on NOW

The top stories and transfer rumours from Friday’s newspapers…

Transfer news

Liverpool could rival Arsenal for the signing of Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa as Andoni Iraola desperately seeks a solution to his injury crisis – Daily Mirror

Manchester United and Arsenal sent scouts to watch summer target Kaua Elias score a perfect hat-trick for Shakhtar Donetsk – The Sun

Mo Salah will earn €17m (around £14.5m) a season after signing a two-year deal at Trabzonspor, a record for the Turkish league. He will will also receive a 20 per cent share of revenue from sales of shirts and merchandise bearing his name – The Times

Manchester United duo Joshua Zirkzee and Altay Bayindir are set to join Juventus and Celta Vigo respectively in the coming days – Daily Express

Ethan Nwaneri is being tracked by RB Leipzig with the Arsenal midfielder facing an uncertain future this summer after spending the second half of last season on loan at Marseille – The Sun

Marcus Rashford is set to pocket an extra £4m if he stays at Manchester United due to a clause in his contract which has been activated because the club is back in the Champions League – Daily Mirror

Chris Smalling wants to see out the rest of his career back in England after his release by Saudi Arabian side Al-Fayha – Daily Mail

FIFA fallout

UEFA plans to commission an independent valuation of FIFA’s World Cup sale plans after concerns that Gianni Infantino agreed to sell the tournament’s future profits to a private equity firm at below the market rate – The Guardian

Women’s Super League

Brazil forward Kerolin failed to report back for pre-season training at Manchester City in July before her transfer to Barcelona had been agreed – The Guardian

Athletics

London has submitted its bid for the World Athletics Championships in September 2029, having resolved issues with West Ham United over stadium access and the possible disruption of fixtures – The Times

A Sikandar Raza masterclass inspired MI London to come away with the spoils to jump up to second in the table and condemn London Spirit to an early departure from The Hundred.

Nothing less than a win would do for Spirit in the local derby and after their mauling at the hands of SunRisers Leeds on Tuesday, they made three changes but still came up short in front of a record group stage crowd of 27,721 at Lord’s.

MI London called on Raza to replace their star leg-spinner Rashid Khan, who was away on international duty with Afghanistan. The Zimbabwean all-rounder played his part in a disciplined bowling display, with the visitors expertly keeping the ball away from the shorter boundary side. As a result, Spirit’s innings struggled to gather momentum, flickering rather than igniting despite a composed half-century from Lhuan-Dre Pretorius.

The South African’s innings was ended by an outrageous boundary catch from Will Jacks, who overbalanced on the edge, threw the ball up and then dived full length to complete the dismissal one-handed.

Raza said: “Four days ago I was in Sri Lanka and I’m not really sure what day or date it is but it’s nice to be part of The Hundred and have a debut like that. I couldn’t have asked for a better start – really I just closed my eyes and swung as hard as I could!

“It was nice to get a few out of the middle and you need to remember the complexion of a game can completely change in 10 balls.”

David Willey bristled and muscled his way to 31 but the earlier dismissals of power-hitters Liam Livingstone and Dewald Brevis meant that Spirit were always struggling to post the kind of score they would have liked.

Only the late resistance of Jamie Overton and James Coles prevented Spirit from falling short of a competitive total, with Coles producing his first innings of real substance for the side. Their aggressive hitting in the closing stages lifted Spirit to a serviceable 160-5, leaving MI London needing to complete the highest successful run chase in The Hundred men’s competition at Lord’s to secure victory.

Matt Fisher, earlier in the day picked in England’s Test squad, saw his first ever ball for Spirit disappear back over his head for six from the bat of Jacks but he had his Surrey team-mate’s wicket next ball, Adam Milne pouching the skier.

Nicholas Pooran, making his first appearance at Lord’s, wasted little time finding his rhythm, but Mason Crane – brought in for Adam Zampa – delivered a superb opening spell. The leg-spinner dismissed former skipper James Vince with his very first ball and conceded just three runs from his first ten deliveries.

Pooran and captain Sam Curran began to accelerate the chase, but in an increasingly heated contest, Willey provided a moment of brilliance, completing a stunning run-out after releasing the ball mid-air while diving. The dismissal of the Trinidadian, however, only brought Zimbabwean all-rounder Raza to the crease and handed MI London a dangerous left-right combination.

Raza wasted no time making an impact, launching his first, fourth and seventh deliveries for six as he transformed the chase. His explosive 41-run stand with Curran, coming from just 18 balls, left MI London needing 29 from the final 20 deliveries.

The momentum shifted again when Curran picked out deep point off Overton for 33 and Sherfane Rutherford fell for a golden duck. But James Coles then conceded 18 from his only five balls, including a colossal 105-metre six from Raza that nearly cleared the ground. Although Raza departed with 10 balls remaining, Ollie Pope calmly finished the job to seal victory.

The two London sides exchanged words as they left the field after a fiery and occasionally fractious encounter. For Spirit, however, the defeat ended their hopes of progressing further in the competition.

What is happening in The Hundred on Friday?

Friday sees a single double-header as Birmingham Phoenix women’s team host SunRisers Leeds from 3pm before the men’s sides square off from 6.30pm. Catch both fixtures live on Sky Sports.

Watch every match of The Hundred through to the finals on Sunday August 16. Watch The Hundred and more contract-free on NOW