Meg Lanning returns to the ground where she played her Hundred cricket last year, only now she is leading the opposition.
Manchester Super Giants, with Lanning newly installed as captain, face London Spirit, still led by Charlie Dean, at Lord’s on Thursday, July 23, at 3:00 PM local (7:30 PM IST).
Spirit reached the playoffs last season and have home conditions on their side, while Super Giants are rebuilding after finishing fifth in 2025 under new ownership tied to an IPL franchise group.
LNS-W vs MO-W Match Details
| Details | Information |
|---|---|
| Match | London Spirit Women vs Manchester Super Giants Women, 3rd Match |
| Series | The Hundred Women’s Competition 2026. Season opener for both franchises. |
| Date | Thursday, 23 July 2026 |
| Time | 3:00 PM BST local / 2:00 PM GMT / 7:30 PM IST |
| Venue | Lord’s Cricket Ground, London. London Spirit’s home ground, one-time winners of the Women’s Hundred (2024). |
| Format | 100-ball innings per side, five sets of 20 balls, no bowler allowed more than two sets. |
| Captains | Charlie Dean (London Spirit), Meg Lanning (Manchester Super Giants) |
| Form | LNS: Reached the playoffs last season and return with largely the same core, built around Grace Harris, Marizanne Kapp, Deandra Dottin and Amy Jones. MO: Finished fifth in 2025 under former captain Beth Mooney and have reset under new ownership, appointing Meg Lanning as captain and adding Smriti Mandhana to a squad that already had Sophie Ecclestone. Notably, Lanning herself played for London Spirit as recently as 2024, so she knows exactly what she is up against. |
| H2H | Both franchises are entering fresh territory with rebuilt squads this season, so recent head-to-head results between the old core groups carry limited weight heading into this opener. |
Dream11 Team For LNS-W vs MO-W, 3rd Match
Top Picks for LNS-W vs MO-W, 3rd Match
| Player | Team | Role | Key Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meg Lanning | MO | Captain / Batter | Captain pick. New Super Giants captain, five-time ICC trophy winner, 457 Hundred runs to her name. At 2x. |
| Marizanne Kapp | LNS | VC / AR | Vice-Captain pick. Tight, experienced seamer who also chips in runs. At 1.5x. |
| Grace Harris | LNS | All-Rounder | Powerful top-order hitter, expected to lead London Spirit’s charge in the powerplay. |
| Smriti Mandhana | MO | Batter | India’s vice-captain and one of the format’s most elegant strikers, fresh off 676 Hundred runs in her previous stint at Southern Brave. |
| Sophie Ecclestone | MO | Bowler | The competition’s leading wicket-taker for Manchester in 2025 with 10 scalps, and the world’s premier left-arm spinner. |
Pitch Report
| Details | Information |
|---|---|
| Venue | Lord’s Cricket Ground, London. |
| Pitch Type | A traditionally fair surface for the Women’s Hundred, generally rewarding batters who build an innings rather than one that flatters big hitting throughout. |
| Scoring | The average first-innings total in Women’s Hundred matches at Lord’s sits at 131, with the average second-innings total slightly lower at 122, suggesting a small but real advantage for the side batting first at this ground. This is worth cross-checking against ESPNcricinfo Statsguru before publishing. |
| Pace vs Spin | Seam bowling from the likes of Marizanne Kapp and Nadine de Klerk for Spirit should find some early assistance, while Sophie Ecclestone’s left-arm spin is likely to be the standout middle-overs threat for Super Giants. |
| Toss Factor | With second-innings totals running lower than first-innings totals at this ground, expect the toss winner to lean toward batting first rather than chasing. |
Weather Report
| Details | Information |
|---|---|
| Temperature | Around 27°C (81°F), a warm July afternoon at Lord’s. |
| Sky | Cloudy periods through the day with some sunny intervals. |
| Rain Chance | Low, roughly 10 percent. No significant disruption expected. |
| Humidity | Moderate, with a small chance of helping the ball swing under cloud cover. |
| Overall | Good batting and bowling conditions for the opening day of both franchises’ 2026 campaigns. |
LNS-W vs MO-W Toss Prediction
With Lord’s second-innings totals in the Women’s Hundred typically running lower than first-innings scores, expect the toss winner to look to bat first and put runs on the board rather than chase.
**If Charlie Dean (London Spirit) wins, **expect her to bat first in front of a home crowd, trusting Grace Harris and Amy Jones to set the tone before Deandra Dottin and Nadine de Klerk accelerate, backed by Kapp and Dean’s own bowling to defend a total.
**If Meg Lanning (Manchester Super Giants) wins, **in her first game as captain she is likely to bat first as well, using her new opening partnership with Smriti Mandhana to lay a platform before Kathryn Bryce and the middle order push on, with Sophie Ecclestone holding things together with the ball.
Injury and Team News
London Spirit Women:
London Spirit head into 2026 under the continuity of Charlie Dean’s captaincy, having reached the playoffs last season.
The retained core of Grace Harris, Marizanne Kapp, Deandra Dottin and Amy Jones gives Spirit a settled, experienced look, with Nadine de Klerk adding further all-round depth. No injury concerns have been reported for the squad ahead of the opener.
Manchester Super Giants Women:
Manchester enter 2026 under new ownership and a new captain in Meg Lanning, who takes over from Beth Mooney after the side finished fifth last season.
The retained duo of Sophie Ecclestone and Smriti Mandhana, both auction headline names, give Lanning a strong base to build around, alongside Kathryn Bryce and Richa Ghosh. No injury concerns have been reported for the squad ahead of the opener.
