Hundred perfection in sight for dominant Brave

To butcher a phrase from Star Trek, Southern Brave Women have gone boldly where no one has gone before.

No women's or men's side had previously achieved an unbeaten record in the league stage of The Hundred since the ECB's 100-ball tournament was first played in 2021.

But Brave have become the first, with Georgia Adams' squad winning all eight of their matches so far, securing flawlessness with victory over Welsh Fire on Thursday.

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They will now be seeking the Hundred's first perfect year when they play in Sunday's Lord's final, against either Northern Superchargers or defending champions London Spirit.

That stage is not alien to Brave as they reached the initial three finals of this competition, losing to Oval Invincibles in 2021 and 2022 before finally getting their hands on the trophy 12 months later when they beat Superchargers by 34 runs.

They have been the dominant women's team since The Hundred's inception, winning 29 of their 41 games, with 11 defeats and a tie.

Bar an utterly dismal 2024 campaign, that record would be even more intimidating.

Last year was an annus horribilis for Brave, with six losses from eight and just the one win, as now-England coach Charlotte Edwards' time in charge of the Southampton-based side ended with a whimper.

Edwards' final game at the helm was a nine-wicket drubbing to Fire, as their opponents eased to a target of 104 with 26 balls to spare.

Fast forward a year and things have turned around dramatically. This time in their last league outing at home to Fire, they limited their rivals to 77-9 in a chase of 107, triumphing by 29 runs.

Bell and fellow bowlers star for Brave in 2025

England seamer Lauren Bell bagged 4-6 from 20 balls in that game, taking her tally of wickets to 19, a new record for a single edition of the women's tournament.

She has been superbly backed up with the ball by New Zealand veteran Sophie Devine (12) wickets and spinners Mady Villiers and Tilly Corteen-Coleman (both 11 wickets). Another slow bowler, skipper Adams, has chipped in with eight.

Bell, Adams and 18-year-old Corteen-Coleman are the only bowlers bar Manchester Originals' Mahika Gaur to hold an economy rate under six having bowled over 100 balls.

So far in 2025, Brave have only conceded more than 120 runs in an innings twice and twice kept opponents down to double digits. Plus, they have shown they can win both batting first and chasing.

There appear few flaws in this formidable outfit.

True, the batting maybe has not been as dynamic as some of the other sides but the bowling has meant it hasn't needed to be, and Brave did show they can go some with the blade by smoking 161 against Invincibles before rolling their opponents for 78.

On any given day that top six - Maia Bouchier, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Laura Wolvaardt, Devine, Freya Kemp and Chloe Tryon - can properly punish you.

Brave are a superb unit, which includes their athleticism in the field, and they just do not panic

After a stodgy batting display against Fire last time out and the chasing side then reaching 50-1, many teams may have folded. Not Brave. They applied the squeeze with the ball, something they do ever so well, and won easily in the end.

All that, though, will count for nothing if they do not secure a second title in three years.

We saw India's men win their first 10 matches at the 2023 Cricket World Cup, only to then lose the most important one against Australia in the final.

Brave will be well aware the trophy is not theirs yet but perfection is tantalisingly close.

Watch the 2025 Hundred finals live on Sky Sports Cricket from 1.45pm on Sunday. The women's final starts at 2.15pm before the men's gets going at 6pm. Stream cricket and more with NOW.