Australian opener D'Arcy Short has provided the backbone of unbeaten Trent Rockets' latest triumph in The Hundred as his unbeaten 69 led them to a narrow seven-run win over London Spirit.

Spinners Matt Carter, Samit Patel and Rashid Khan also helped maintain the Nottingham-based side's 100 per cent record in the new English cricket tournament at Lord's on Thursday.

Carter, who took 2-17 on his Hundred debut against Northern Superchargers, bettered that performance with 3-17 to leave Spirit's top order in tatters before Patel (3-20) and Khan (2-13) weighed in.

The Rockets were most indebted to their player of the match Short, who batted right through for his 69 off 47 balls while his teammates struggled against Spirit's spinners to post a modest 4-123.

The left-hander held the innings together and provided the crucial late fireworks, accelerating with four boundaries off Chris Wood's final set of five to lift the Rockets to a competitive total.

Altogether, the 30-year-old hit 10 fours as he compiled over half their runs.

Rockets' slow bowlers then proved even deadlier and, despite a late flurry by Roelof van der Merwe and Blake Cullen, London could only muster 8-116.