Birmingham Phoenix and London Spirit kick-off the first ever double-header in The Hundred, with first the Women’s then the Men’s sides facing off. But who are three heroes from the Spirit who could win them the game?

Heather Knight:

London Spirit and England captain Knight’s top order batting and useful spin bowling will give the Spirit some encouragement going into the match. Knight captained England to a Cricket World Cup win in 2017, scoring over 4,000 runs and taking 70 wickets in shorter form international cricket. Her experience and leadership will be important to the Spirit going forward.

Deandra Dottin:

A batting allrounder, Dottin can wreak havoc with some big boundaries but also take some all important wickets with her pace bowling. Became the first to score a century in a T20 international in 2010 off of 38 balls and has scored over 5,000 runs at both ODI and T20I level with 130 wickets in those formats too.

Tammy Beaumont:

Usually opening the batting for England, Beaumont can be destructive at the crease. Scoring over 4,000 runs on the international stage over 12 years, her experience and ability to score quick runs will come in handy for the Spirit.

Eoin Morgan:

Captaining England at both T20 and ODI, Morgan knows what it takes to win in short format cricket. He will also be captaining the Spirit, but with that comes a safe pair of hands in the field and with the bat. He has scored over 10,000 international runs and guided England to a first World Cup in 2019.

Zak Crawley:

Crawley could open the batting for the Spirit and his ability to score runs in the powerplay could get them off to a perfect start. Whilst featuring for England mainly in test series, he has recently played for the ODI side and has plenty experience in T20 for Kent.

Joe Denly:

Denly currently sits second for most runs in the domestic T20 cup with just over 4,000 runs and a strike rate of 125.12. He has the ability to hit boundaries but can also rotate the strike to stop any pesky dot balls.