Jos Buttler - Manchester Originals
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The Hundred Men's and Women's - Match Reports, Results, Scorecards 2nd August 2023
The Hundred Men's and Women's - Live Scores, Match Reports, Results, Scorecards 2nd August.
Hundred Men's
Top Tournament Stats - The Hundred Men's 2023
London Spirit (Men) vs Oval Invincibles (Men), 3rd Match
Sunil Narine starred with bat and ball as Oval Invincibles won a thriller against City rivals London Spirit by three wickets at Lord’s.
Narine (13 not out) was at his eccentric batting best to pummel 12 runs in three balls from the final set of five bowled by Nathan Ellis, including a six which just cleared the rope as the visitors scrambled to a target of 132 with one delivery to spare.
Earlier Narine had produced his customary wizardry with the ball to return 2-14, his spin twin Nathan Sowter having blown the game open with 3-34.
The pair choked a promising start from Spirit for whom Adam Rossington top-scored with 39 including three big sixes, the hosts capitulating from 76-2 after 41 balls to 131 all out from the last delivery of their innings.
The rain which washed out the women’s game delayed the start by 25 minutes before Rossington and Dan Lawrence began with a blaze of boundaries, both clearing the ropes, the former pulling a short one from Tom Curran into the second tier of the stand.
However, once Sowter and Narine entered the fray it sparked a rapid decline. Leg-spinner Sowter bowled Lawrence second ball and made it two in three when Michael Pepper hit one straight to Gus Atkinson.
Two further sixes from former Middlesex man Rossington briefly threatened to regain the initiative for the hosts, but Sowter snaffled him too courtesy of the first of two great catches from Jordan Cox.
Narine meanwhile had been suitable frugal and was rewarded for his stump-to-stump bowling as first Daryl Mitchell and then Matt Critchley were trapped lbw, the second almost playing no shot, so bamboozled was he.
Thereafter, only Matthew Wade’s restrained 37 provided any resistance, Tom Curran’s 1-20 ensuring there’d be no late rally from Spirit.
With skies darkening again Jason Roy glanced the first ball of Invincibles’ innings for four, but the Surrey man got revenge on the former England opener soon afterwards. And Worrall (2-23), now in the groove then produced an unplayable ball to have Heinrich Klaasen caught at slip by Critchley.
With the dangerous Will Jacks having been removed by Jordan Thompson (2-23) in the meantime, Invincibles were wobbling at 24-3.
Sam Curran’s response was to launch a counterattack with a flurry of boundaries adding 47 with Cox before the latter departed to a diving catch by Rossington off Nathan Ellis.
Curran fell lbw to Critchley for 34 with 39 still needed and Spirit were still in it when Ellis castled Tom Curran.
Sam Billings hit a six into the hospitality boxes but holed out to Pepper and when Wade miraculous parried a ball on the boundary back into play turning a six into just two Spirit looked favourites, but Narine had the final word in a breathless finish.
Oval Invincibles all-rounder Sunil Narine who took 2-14 and made the winning hit said: "When you have exciting games like this it makes the tournament even bigger. More people watch it and will be interested because it is close, so I think it is good for the game and good for us as a team.
"I was just trying to keep as calm as possible at the end. The calmer you are you might be able to think a bit smarter, so you just try and connect the ball onto the bat because if you do that you never know what can happen.
"The over Sowts bowled when he got two wickets opened up the game and allowed other bowlers to come in with a little less pressure and taking wickets in the middle of an innings you can break the back of a team."
London Spirit batter Matthew Wade who scored 37 said: "It's a great advert for The Hundred, an entertaining game. The bowlers did a terrific job to keep us in the game. We probably didn't cash in at the end with the bat, so disappointing.
We lost some wickets at bad times which stalled us a little bit. It would have been nice to get a few more over the ropes at the end. A couple more boundaries and we win that game.
"Sunil Narine is a terrific bowler. They bowled really well and fielded really well. I felt like I hit a lot of good shots tonight and they found a way to cut them off.
"I thought when I saved that six it might be enough. When I threw it back in I thought I was going to run Sunil out at the non-striker's end which would have made it even better. It kept us in the game and I don't think Nathan (Ellis) bowled any bad balls in that last set, Sunil just executed with the bat and that's the game."
Welsh Fire (Men) vs Manchester Originals (Men), 2nd Match
Two wickets in the first two balls of the innings for Pakistan ace Shaheen Shah Afridi set Welsh Fire on their way to a first Hundred victory since 2021.
With just 40 balls per side, Manchester Originals fell nine runs short of the Welsh Fire total of 94, despite by Jos Buttler’s unbeaten 37 off 18, matched by 37 off 18 for Max Holden.
Afridi set the tone at the top, while fellow Pakistan bowler Harris Rauf went for just 15 in the middle overs to put Originals behind the run rate.
Welsh Fire’s total was built around a superb 57 off 23 by opener Luke Wells allowing celebrations at Sophia Gardens as Welsh Fire started with a win after losing every game last season.n
The match was reduced to a planned 40 balls per side in an hour of cricket, with a 10 ball powerplay, following on from the abandonment of the women’s game – which had been the first time a Welsh Fire match had been totally abandoned.
Manchester Originals won the toss and unsurprisingly chose to bowl first for what was inevitably going to be a helter skelter effort by both sides.
Welsh Fire opener Wells set off like a train against the pace of Josh Tongue, fresh from the Ashes, and then Josh Little.
He took the early strike, but when Joe Clarke did get a chance to face he hit Little straight to point for the first wicket to fall, however there were still 25 runs off the first 10 balls.
Wells continued to dominate and find the gaps in the field, though Pakistan leg spinner Usama Mir put the brakes on proceedings until his last four balls went for 17.
Wells would eventually depart for an excellent 57 off 23 balls, caught on the boundary by Jamie Overton off Josh Little as he went for another six.
Big hitting David Willey was promoted up the order, while South African Glenn Phillips took the initiative with 19 off 12.
Welsh Fire would have wanted to top three figures, but had to settle with 94 off their 40 balls, Tom Hartley’s last five balls of the innings only going for seven runs including the wicket of Phillips.
A lot was going to depend on openers Phil Salt and Jos Buttler, while Welsh Fire had brought in Pakistan opening bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi to try and reverse their fortunes.
He made an immediate impact, his first ball swinging in to dismiss Salt LBW, his second ball a carbon copy to get rid of Laurie Evans. The left handed Max Holden found the swing easier to cope with as Afridi bowled 10 balls straight, conceding 24.
Jos Buttler started quietly before suddenly announcing himself with 10 runs off two balls from David Payne, before smashing another huge six off Pakistan’s Harris Rauf. Despite that Rauf only went for 15 off his 10 balls, leaving Originals needing 36 off the last 10 balls.
Holden was well caught at deep point by Phillips off the bowling of Willey, but Paul Walter announced his arrival with a huge six over midwicket before departing next ball caught behind.
Buttler’s late assault was too little too late for Originals.
Welsh Fire batsman Luke Wells paid tribute to Pakistan opening bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi for his two wickets in the first two balls of the Manchester Original innings -
“Shaheen was amazing. It was incredible because he only arrived last night, straight out of the airport, a few hours sleep and into his work,” said Wells, whose 57 helped Welsh Fire to their winning total of 94 off 40 balls in the rain reduced game.
“Everyone knows what he will do, there is no mystery, but it is phenomenal skill, pace and swing so you may know it’s coming but it still gets batsmen early on especially.
“It was the dream start, probably the reason why we ended up winning and defending that score in the end.
“It was good fun, pretty mad to be honest, quite a lot going on, first game I’ve played in the Hundred format and it wasn’t even that, forty balls so in a way that helped because it took the thinking out of it.
“It was just a case of hitting it as hard as you can and thankfully it paid off today. I had played pretty well for Lancashire in the Blast and thankfully took that form into this competition.
“It was a pretty late decision to open the batting, I was down to be three but then at the last minute we went for a right/left hand combination.
“It was a great atmosphere today, the crowd showed a lot of patience, hanging around, and we were just pleased that we could chalk up a win for them and hopefully we will have a much more successful campaign than previous years.”
Manchester Originals captain Jos Buttler also felt the opening two balls from Afridi made a big difference -
“They played really well, Luke Wells with a fantastic innings and then, we have seen it a lot of times, but Shaheen Afridi with the first two balls getting two of our best players out was huge in the game,” he said.
“I am just glad we got a game on, there were some really loyal fans who hung around all day so it was great they got to see some cricket in the end.
“It was different, it was fast, you just had to try and think on your feet, but we will be better for the run out.
“It could not be a better time for The Hundred, interest in cricket in the country at the moment is probably the highest it’s ever been off the back of those two fantastic Ashes series.
“I am a huge fan of The Hundred, I think it has a huge place to play in English cricket and hopefully we will see lots of fans filling the grounds over the next month.”
Women's Hundred
Top Tournament Stats - The Hundred Women's 2023
London Spirit (Women) vs Oval Invincibles (Women), 3rd Match
Match abandoned
Match abandoned without a ball being bowled - Both sides take one point apiece.
The Oval Invincibles Women's team's bid for a hat-trick of title wins got off to a soggy start as their city derby with London Spirit was abandoned without a ball being bowled at Lord's.
Overnight rain which had already left the outfield damp returned around 1pm with puddles quickly forming on the playing surface. Conditions worsened as the afternoon progressed leaving umpires James Middlebrook and Jasmine Naeem no alternative but to abandon the match.
The point gained by London Spirit for the draw was their first against Oval Invincibles, they having lost the three previous encounters between the sides since the tournament's inception.
Welsh Fire (Women) vs Manchester Originals (Women), 2nd Match
Match abandoned
Welsh Fire suffered their first abandoned game in 30 matches, with Women’s captain Tammy Beaumont disappointed not to be able to show their improvements this season.
After a couple of seasons of struggle, England star Beaumont is confident her side will perform more strongly – but would have liked to start at home before two games on the road against last season’s finalists next on their fixture list.
“I did not know that was the first washout – we like to break records, but maybe not that one,” joked Beaumont.
“It’s disappointing, but you cannot book the weather. There’s a lot of excitement but also a lot of nerves in the camp, everyone is desperate to get out there.
“We were hoping to kick off our campaign here at home, but it is a point on the board so we will just have to take that.
“We head for Southampton for Friday. I know everyone is raring to go so hopefully we will kick off well down there.
“We all know how strong they have been over the first two years of The Hundred, for us it is about focussing on our strengths and taking that to the opposition.
“It is great so many people have come down even though they would have seen the weather forecast, every single player has gone out to sign as much as possible to create that connection with the fans. Hopefully they will come back on a sunnier day in Cardiff.”
Manchester Originals captain Sophie Ecclestone was also disappointed to have to wait to get their campaign started. “It is pretty frustrating but hopefully we can go again on Saturday and the weather stays away,” said the England left arm spinner.
“It has been a long summer, a big summer for us during the Ashes, but we are ready to go again and ready to go in The Hundred.
“It has been a massive summer for the men and women with the Ashes, but we enjoy playing cricket so we just keep going.
“It has been amazing to have massive crowds for the women’s Ashes, sell-out crowds, and hopefully it can continue during The Hundred.”
©CricDirect 2023
