Southern Brave became the first women’s or men’s side to go through the group stage of The Hundred unbeaten as they made it eight wins from eight with victory over bottom team Welsh Fire.

Table toppers Brave – who will face either Northern Superchargers or defending champions London Spirit in Sunday’s Lord’s final – won by 29 runs in Southampton on Thursday afternoon.

Fire could only muster 77-9 in a chase of 107, losing four wickets for six runs from 50-1, including Tammy Beaumont (28 off 33), as Brave seamer Lauren Bell’s tournament-leading figures of 4-6 from 20 balls subjected the visitors to a seventh defeat in eight.

Bell increased her tally of wickets in the tournament to 19, five clear of Fire spinner Hayley Matthews’ 14, and she now has the most strikes by a bowler in a single edition of The Hundred, eclipsing the 18 Oval Invincibles’ Tash Farrant claimed in 2021.

Brave had earlier stuttered to 106-8 on a tough pitch, with captain Georgia Adams (30no off 26 balls) top-scoring and Fire duo Matthews (2-16) and Shabnim Ismalil (2-22) sharing four scalps.

The eliminator between Superchargers and Spirit will take place from 2.15pm on Saturday. If Superchargers come through it will set up a repeat of the 2023 final, which Brave won by 34 runs.

As Superchargers finished above Spirit in the group stage, they will advance to the final if the eliminator is washed out.

How do matches work?

• One hundred balls a side, the team with the most runs wins. It is as simple as that.
• Five bowlers can bowl up to 20 balls in an innings, including five or 10 in a row.
• The traditional six-ball overs seen in other forms of cricket are not used in The Hundred, with 10 balls bowled before a change of ends.
• The powerplay is for the first 25 balls of an innings, with only two fielders allowed outside the 30-yard circle.
• A 25-ball-a-side game is the minimum length that can be played
• In the knockouts, if a match is tied a Super 5 – another five balls – will be played to determine a winner

What’s next in The Hundred?

The Kia Oval in South London will host the eliminators on Saturday with Northern Superchargers taking on defending champions London Spirit in the women’s fixture (2.15pm) before Trent Rockets play Superchargers in the men’s (6pm).

The winners will advance to Sunday’s finals at Lord’s to take on Southern Brave Women and Oval Invincibles Men respectively – the women’s final is at 2.15pm and the men’s at 6pm.

Watch every match in the women’s and men’s competitions in The Hundred live on Sky Sports. Stream cricket and more with NOW.