London Spirit defeated Oval Invincibles by eight wickets at the Kia Oval.
Spirit needed to win this final game, and hope Manchester Originals lose to Northern Superchargers on Tuesday to avoid progress coming down to net run-rate. But having romped home with so much to spare, their qualification now looks almost assured.
Put into bat, the Invincibles started steadily if not spectacularly. Meg Lanning and Paige Scholfield ambled to 23 off the Powerplay before a brace of boundaries by Lanning (19 from 20) from Sarah Glenn and a huge six from Scholfield off Issy Wong got the home side moving.
Charlie Dean then made the breakthrough, having Lanning caught and bowled while conceding just three from her first 10. Scholfield (22 from 21) followed soon after as the Spirit took all the pace off the ball. At halfway the Invincibles were an underwhelming 56-2.
After one straight six, Alice Capsey (11 from 9) holed out, and the Spirit spinners kept a lid on things, Marizanne Kapp (32 from 25) the only batter to break the shackles before her innings was ended by a stunning one-handed catch from Dean. "I managed to time my jump and hung on," she said.
Dean then bowled the last five to finish with an exceptional 2-12 from her 20 balls as the Invincibles ended on 108-8.
With a run rate-boosting win in mind, Kira Chathli and Georgia Redmayne came out hard. Chathli in particular took the attack to her former team, with the Powerplay bringing a season-high 47 without loss, her own contribution being 35 off 16.
The two continued past the Spirit's highest opening partnership of the season - and ended up with the team's highest for any wicket - Chathli going to a 26-ball half century with a majestic straight six. An eight-wicket win came soon after, with 38 balls left unused. Redmayne departed with just three needed, having made an excellent 42 off 30, and Chathli followed one run later for 53 off 29, but it was much too little, much too late for the Invincibles.
"That was an impressive victory. We went out wanting to bounce back and to win by a margin like that," Dean said.
"Kira has been brilliant at the top of the order, trying to punch first
"We have a rest day and hope for the best. We have done everything to put ourselves in the best position to qualify so it's fingers crossed."
Northern Superchargers welcome Manchester Originals to Headingley with the women's match under way from 3pm and the men's getting going at 6.30pm, live on Your Site Cricket.
Watch every match across the women's and men's competitions in The Hundred live on Your Site until August 31.
