Dawson shines as Spirit defeats Fire for first win

The Centurion Contest, Lord’s

Welsh Fire 94-9 (100 balls): Wells 23 (8); Dawson 3-10

London Spirit 96-7 (87 balls): Hetmyer 30* (21); Hendrik 3-19

London Spirit won by three wickets

Scorecard. Table

London Spirit recorded their first win of the season in the men’s 100th competition with a three-wicket victory over Welsh Fire at Lord’s.

Despite Luke Wells’ entertaining 23 runs from eight balls, Fire continued to pick up wickets at regular intervals, taking them to 94-9.

Spinner Liam Dawson bowled an excellent 3-10 for Spirit and – in a men’s hundred – seamer Daniel Worrall (1-16) bowled 10 successive dot balls early in the innings.

Spirit also struggled with the bat, falling to 38-4, with Matt Henry holding 3-19.

However, Shimron Hetmyer (30 not out from 21) and Dan Lawrence (29 from 27) formed a 46-run duo to reassure Spirit, before Haris Rauf took two wickets in successive balls to give Fire some hope in the closing stages.

But a controlled Hetmyer finished it off in style with a huge six-over-square leg.

What else do you need to know?

• Jonny Bairstow was dismissed by Spirit fast bowler Nathan Ellis for 12 off 11, which gave him a score of 3-16.

• Spirit’s Andre Russell made a stunning catch, ran back to the boundary and dismissed Tom Kohler-Cadmore (4 off 13) off the bowling of Ollie Stone.

• England Test vice-captain Ollie Pope (12 off 9) hit a gutsy ramp shot for six against Henry before being dismissed by the New Zealander two balls later.

• Joe Clarke made a simple catch when Hetmyer was on 16.

‘The first half cost us’ – what they said

London Spirit batsman Shimron Hetmyer: “I’m actually relieved, because when I saw the boys getting out – from the other side – I was a bit worried.

“I just thought if we get it down to five hits, I can get it down to one and the game is over.”

Welsh Fire Captain Tom Abell: “The first half cost us a bit. It was a tough wicket but we didn’t really get any momentum in our innings.”

What’s happening on Friday?

Friday sees a doubleheader in the Hundred competition, with the Oval Invincibles taking on the Northern Superchargers at the Kia Oval (women at 15:00 BST and men at 18:30).

You can follow the ball-by-ball commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website and app.