Deepti Sharma sees Sunrisers home from 95 for 5, and Lord’s is next
Deepti Sharma’s unbeaten 28 carried Sunrisers Leeds past Southern Brave in the women’s Hundred eliminator at the Kia Oval, setting up a final against Trent Rockets.
Aug 15, 2026
Sunrisers Leeds needed 115 to reach a Lord’s final and made hard work of it. They were 54 for 3, then 95 for 5 with Issy Wong taking two wickets in two balls, and the game had turned into exactly the sort of night that ends a season. Deepti Sharma was at the other end for all of it. She finished on 28 not out from 22 balls, Sunrisers got there with 11 balls to spare, and they play Trent Rockets at Lord’s on Sunday.
Southern Brave never got going
Brave batted first at the Kia Oval and managed 114 for 7 from their 100 balls. Lizelle Lee gave them something at the top with 32 from 25, Charli Knott made 25 from 21, and Sophie Molineux was left unbeaten on 22 trying to drag the total somewhere respectable. Laura Wolvaardt went for 8.
Hannah Baker was the reason it stayed that low. She conceded 13 runs from her 20 balls and took two wickets, which in a competition built for scoring quickly is close to a perfect spell. Annabel Sutherland took two as well, though she paid 31 for them. Kate Cross went for 12 from her set, and Deepti chipped in with 1 for 24.
Wong almost dragged Brave back into it
A target of 115 should not be complicated. Wong made it complicated. She finished with 3 for 21, bowled Lauren Winfield-Hill for a patient 37 from 37, and had the Sunrisers captain Dani Gibson lbw first ball. Two wickets in two deliveries at 95 for 5, chasing a small total, is how sides talk themselves out of finals.
Deepti did not do anything spectacular in reply, and that was rather the point. Twenty-eight from 22 with Jess Jonassen alongside her at the end, no risks taken, the required rate never allowed to climb far enough to force one. Sunrisers finished on 116 for 5 from 89 balls.
A useful few weeks for Deepti
Her 1 for 24 moved her joint-top of the wicket-taking charts for the tournament, which is a reasonable return for an all-rounder who has spent as much time batting in pressure situations as bowling in them. India’s Women’s Asia Cup campaign is not far off, and Deepti is in that squad. Whatever else the Hundred has given her this summer, she has now finished a knockout chase in front of a full house at the Oval, which is not the worst preparation available.
When the final starts in India
Sunrisers meet Trent Rockets at Lord’s on Sunday 16 August. The women’s final is first, at 2:15pm BST, which is 6:45pm IST. Baker admitted afterwards that she had never been so nervous in her life watching the chase, which is a fair reaction to 95 for 5 against a target of 115.