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Sunrisers defy superb Wong to reach Hundred final

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The Hundred Eliminator, women's competition, The Kia Oval

Southern Brave 114-7 (100 balls): Lee 32 (25); Baker 2-13

Sunrisers Leeds 116-5 (89 balls): Winfield Hill 37 (37); Wong 3-21

Sunrisers Leeds won by five wickets

Scorecard

Sunrisers Leeds survived Southern Brave's Issy Wong-inspired fightback to reach The Hundred final with a five-wicket win in the women's Eliminator.

Chasing just 115 at The Oval, Sunrisers were cruising at 95-3 with 25 balls to go before Wong took two wickets in two balls to give Brave a glimmer of hope.

The England seamer, who finished with 3-21, claimed the key wicket of Lauren Winfield-Hill, who was bowled for 37, before trapping Sunrisers skipper Dani Gibson lbw first ball.

But Deepti Sharma held her nerve with an unbeaten 28, before Jess Jonassen calmly hit the winning boundary off Lauren Bell with 11 balls to spare.

Sunrisers will face Trent Rockets in the final at Lord's on Sunday.

Brave were left to rue a bizarrely defensive batting innings, as they played out 41 dot balls and scored just 13 boundaries in their stuttering 114-7.

Lizelle Lee gave them a positive start with 32 off 25 balls, which included the only six of the game, but the rest of the order could not capitalise.

All-rounder Charli Knott tried to revive the innings with her 25 off 21, but was left with too much to do after Maia Bouchier struggled for 15 off 17, Laura Wolvaardt fell cheaply for eight and captain Sophie Molineux trudged to 22 not out off 24.

The low target meant Winfield-Hill could anchor the innings following the early loss of both Sunrisers openers, with Bell, who took 1-14, and Wong unfortunate to be on the losing side.

In-form Sunrisers seek back-to-back winsSunrisers Leeds will face Trent Rockets in Sunday's final at Lord's [Getty Images]

After this performance, Sunrisers are looking like the team to beat despite Rockets finishing top of the table, and a win on Sunday would secure back-to-back Hundred titles for the Headingley-based franchise (formerly Northern Superchargers).

It was not the most eye-catching chase, but after Brave's dire batting effort, it did not need to be - they simply needed to get the job done, especially after Wong's late burst.

Despite such a positive start to the tournament with five straight wins, Brave ended the group stage with three defeats, in contrast to Sunrisers' four-match winning streak and the gulf in confidence was clear.

Lee was the only batter to attack, having successfully overturned when given out lbw on 16 thanks to a thin edge, while Bouchier, Wolvaardt and Molineux were all kept in check by Sunrisers' accuracy. They did not bowl a single wide, which is only the 12th time that has happened in 238 full innings in the history of The Hundred.

Young leg-spinner Hannah Baker was the star with a miserly 2-13, and while it was a fine all-round bowling effort, the Brave batters failed to live up to their name and offered little in terms of proactiveness.

Sunrisers will also take plenty of confidence from it being a relatively comfortable chase without contributions from either of their Australian superstars in Phoebe Litchfield and Annabel Sutherland, who made four and 17 respectively.

The lack of run-rate pressure meant Winfield-Hill, who previously captained Oval Invincibles on this ground, and Sharma could withstand Bell's metronomic spell before she the forer was bowled by Wong's brilliant slower ball.

Wong's average pace throughout her spell was 70mph, her quickest in the tournament, but the wicket ball was 11mph slower and breathed life into a previously flat contest.

But Sunrisers' batting depth was the key as Sharma and Jonassen, who opened earlier in the tournament before swapping with Litchfield, barely broke sweat in withstanding the pressure Wong had built.

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