At Old Trafford, Oval Invincibles’ best player, Sam Curran, guided his team to an exciting three-run victory over Manchester Originals.
The England all-rounder scored 68 runs from 38 balls at bat, smashing six sixes, before holding the opposition to seven runs from the final five balls to secure victory.
With the first ball of the last five deliveries, Curran removed Jamie Overton from the game. The left-armer then trapped Usama Mir on the boundary with the Originals needing four runs from the final delivery.
The scenario of the Originals, needing to score 165 runs to win, was all too familiar as they let a strong batsman lead them to nowhere.
Another half-century from opener Matty Hurst, in partnership with skipper Phil Salt, helped them to 89-0 but – just as they did against Northern Superchargers in their last game – they crumbled.
Big hitting from Paul Walter and Overton got them close but Curran held his nerve to condemn them to their to a fifth straight defeat and officially end their hopes of making the qualifer.
Meanwhile, Invincibles’ fourth win in five puts them second in the table, level on points with leaders Southern Brave.
What else do you need to know?
- Will Jacks got Invincibles off to a flyer, hitting 41 from 20 balls with four fours and three sixes.
- Originals spinners Mir and Sikandar Raza took a combined 4-43 from their 40 balls. The remaining 60 deliveries in the Invincibles innings went for 121 runs.
- Adam Zampa took 2-30 for Invincibles and the Australia leg-spinner is now the leading wicket-taker in the men’s competition with 12, one more than Sam Curran.
- Curran is also third for most runs in the tournament with 141 in his four innings.
- With 15 balls left in the Originals chase, Wayne Madsen was retired out after scoring 15 from 14 balls. Raza replaced him and was out second ball
‘Never really felt like we were out of the game’ – what they said
Hero of the match, Oval Invincibles all-rounder Sam Curran: “It felt like we bowled really well and hung in the game.
“[Phil Salt] and [Matthew] Hurst played really well. We knew they had such a power play batting line-up but we knew that in The Hundred, with 10 balls from one end, you can really squeeze when a new batter comes in.
“We never really felt like we were out of the game. It’s just that self-belief, every day it is going to be someone different [performing well].
“This type of tournament being so short and quick, you need to win those small margins. We’re winning close games and are really, really pleased.”