Southern Brave's Lauren Bell full of confidence ahead of The Hundred final at Lord's

Lauren Bell believes her Southern Brave teammates have the confidence to go one step further and win The Hundred on Saturday.

The 20-year-old has played a pivotal role in helping Southern Brave reach the final of the competition at Lord’s this weekend.

Brave have finished top of the women’s section, having won seven of their eight games in the group.

“It’s so exciting, it’s been a great competition so far and we can’t wait to get to London and play at Lord’s again.

“It is always special to play at Lord’s, said Bell. “We played a warm-up game there and then we played London Spirit there and the atmosphere was unbelievable when we went.

“I can only imagine that it will be just as good, if not better, for the final and it’s exciting and very special to be able to play at that venue in front of a full crowd.”

Bell has taken 10 wickets for Brave so far, with three of them coming during their most recent victory against Oval Invincibles on Monday.

The former Hungerford player admitted that they had to dig deep in their victory at The Ageas Bowl earlier this week.

“It was a great game because we didn’t get the biggest score, but we were able to defend it and it gives us confidence going into the final.

“It helps knowing that we could be going into a final having already beaten the team we are going to play.”

Brave have lost just one out of their eight games in the competition, but Bell isn’t taking anything for granted just yet.

“We don’t want to get complacent, it’s been a great competition so far, but it doesn’t really mean anything if we don’t win the final.

“We’re very excited for one more game and hopefully one more win so we can finish off how we want it to.

“I am excited to try and put in another good performance so we can hopefully go one step further and win.”

With Charlotte Edwards’ side topping their group, it means they go straight into Saturday’s final, rather than having to play the eliminator between second and third place on Friday.

“It is massive that we have come first and be able to go straight to the final because we can just concentrate on one game.

“If you have the eliminator, you have to prepare for one game and then prepare for another one which is the next day.”

With a full capacity expected for the final at Lord’s on Saturday, with both the men and women’s final taking place, Bell is excited to play in front of the crowd.

“My parents have been to every game, they are my number one fans, but I have my sister coming and some of my best friends so it’s going to be a great day out.

“It has been so good having fans back and it’s been great that my family have been able to come and watch me play.”