Oval Invincibles made it three wins from four in The Hundred with Sam Curran’s all-round heroics proving the difference between two sides fighting it out for bragging rights in the capital.
Curran smashed 51 from 22 balls, single-handedly dragging the Invincibles to a strong total on a tricky surface before decimating the Spirit’s hopes of chasing 147 in an astonishing five-wicket spell that included a hat-trick.
On a Lord’s pitch offering a degree of lateral movement, Invincibles’ captain Sam Billings chose to bat first, and with Spirit’s attack making good use of the bowler-friendly surface, the visitors struggled to 46-2 at the halfway stage.
Olly Stone bowled Will Jacks through the gate and Liam Dawson dismissed Jordan Cox, who was fresh off his call-up to the England Men’s Test squad.
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Curran hit a brilliant half-century off just 21 balls for the Oval Invincibles, including three sixes in a row!
Dawid Malan and Billings then struck a few hefty blows before Malan was caught on the square-leg boundary off Matt Critchley for 38 from 29.
Billings struggled to get going and retired himself out in favour of the in-form Donovan Ferreira, but it was Curran who turned the tide, reaching a half century off 21 deliveries, including three successive sixes off Nathan Ellis. His innings propelled Invincibles to a decent-looking 147-5.
In response, Spirit made it through the powerplay unscathed, Keaton Jennings and Michael Pepper guiding them to 35-0.
But thereafter Invincibles’ top-notch spin attack turned the screw, with both openers and Ollie Pope falling in quick succession; Jacks removing Jennings lbw, Adam Zampa having Pepper caught with the first ball of his spell, and Nathan Sowter crashing a leg break through Pope’s defences.
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Spirit’s Charlie Dean leaped through the air to make a sensational catch!
Dan Lawrence and Shimron Hetmyer dragged the Spirit back into it and with 56 needed from the final 30 balls, the game was on. But before they could up the ante, Zampa, who ended with figures of 3-22, dismissed both Hetmyer (20 from 21) and Lawrence (27 from 18).
Despite Andre Russell attempting to bludgeon the hosts home, Curran made the Invincibles win a certainty by taking only the third hat-trick in the history of the The Hundred men’s competition to cap one of the tournament’s greatest individual performances.
Player of the match: Sam Curran
“I’ve had a few battles with Russ (Russell) over the years. The hat-trick ball wasn’t on my mind, it was either going to be me or him, he was going to hit me for six or I was going to get a wicket. Thankfully he edged it but most importantly we got the win,” said Curran.
“It’s never over when players like Dan (Lawrence), Hetmyer and Russell are there, so when we got him (Russell) out it was a big relief.”
Brook fires Superchargers to victory over Originals
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The best of Harry Brook’s 58 off 33 as he helped the Northern Superchargers to victory over the Manchester Originals
Harry Brook’s half-century fired Andrew Flintoff’s Northern Superchargers to a 14-run victory over Manchester Originals in The Hundred clash at Headingley.
The England batter made 58 from 33 balls as Superchargers posted 167-5 having lost the toss before the winless Originals were undone by two run outs as they fell comfortably short in their chase.
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Originals’ Phil Salt was run out by Adil Rashid after forgetting to ground his bat
Superchargers got off to a tough start with the bat as Fazalhaq Farooqi took a wicket with the first ball of the match.
Graham Clark and captain Brook rebuilt the innings with a well-constructed 50 partnership. Brook went on to notch an explosive half-century before being caught by a spectacular one-handed diving effort from Scott Currie.
The Originals came back strongly at the end to restrict Superchargers to 167.
Captain Phil Salt and Matty Hurst got Originals’ innings off to a promising start with 90 for the opening partnership.
But both were run out – Salt for 40 from 27 balls and the impressive Hurst top-scored with 78 from 45.
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Scott Currie stopped vital runs with this brilliant one-handed grab on the boundary
Originals capitulated from 90-0 to 128-4 thanks in part to spinner Mitchell Santner, who took 2-23.
When Hurst departed, Originals required 29 from 13 but they were unable to get over the line as no other batter made double figures, leaving them rooted to the bottom of the table.
Superchargers moved up to third after a third win in four matches.
Player of the match: Harry Brook
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Brook was dismissed after this catch by Currie, but the Headingley crowd were convinced the ball did not carry
“I felt like they were the favourites coming out of the powerplay but we bowled unbelievably well at the death to get the win,” said Brook.
“The outfield is so quick here that I didn’t feel like I needed to hit many balls in the air, so I was just trying to pierce the gaps and it worked.
“I was just trying to stay in until the end so I could put pressure on them at the end. I felt good at the start and thankfully I hit a few gaps.”
What’s next?
The Hundred continues with two matches on Monday. Welsh Fire and Southern Brave women get the day started at 3pm followed by the men at 6.30pm, with both matches live on Sky Sports Cricket. Stream The Hundred and more sport with NOW.