Brave cruise to win over Spirit as Vince and Overton star

The Hundred men's competition, the Utilita Bowl

London Spirit 138-9 (100 balls): Dawson 45* (19); C Overton 3-16

Southern Brave 139-3 (89 balls): Vince 56 (35); Lawrence 1-13

Southern Brave won by seven wickets

Scorecard. Table

Southern Brave claimed a seven-wicket victory over London Spirit to start their season in The Hundred men's competition at the Utilita Bowl.

Batting first, the Spirit were struggling at 49-5 after 48 balls, with former England international Craig Overton taking three early wickets for the Brave.

The Spirit did however fight back, first via Dan Lawrence, who scored 38, and then via a late flurry of runs from Liam Dawson, who ended not out on 45 off just 19 balls as the Spirit ended on 138-9.

The Brave got their chase off to a flying start through their opening batters. Captain James Vince, alongside Dan Hughes (45), put on a 95-run stand for the opening wicket.

Vince went on to make 56 before being bowled by opposing captain Lawrence, but by that point, Brave needed just 22 runs to win from the final 28 balls.

The hosts clinched victory with 11 balls to spare, with Lees du Plooy ending on 23 not out.

Southern Brave bowler Craig Overton: "It’s massive. This competition’s only eight games. It’s a short one so you need to start well and it’s a nice performance today and hopefully we can carry that on next week.

"Vincey’s a phenomenal player, he’s obviously done it for years in the Blast and he’s carried that form into The Hundred and he’s done really well."

There will be another double-header on Thursday, this time at Old Trafford as Manchester Originals host Welsh Fire (women's at 15:00 BST and men's at 18:30).

You will be able to watch both games lives on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.

There will also be ball-by-ball commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website and app.