London Spirit paid tribute to cricket great and their late former coach Shane Warne as the side contested their second match of The Hundred against Manchester Originals at Lords earlier today.
Before the match commenced, both teams and the crowd in attendance applauded the sporting legend for 23 seconds to symbolise the number he wore on the back of his shirt during his playing days. “Welcome to the first home game of The Hundred for London Spirit,” the stadium announcer began.
“On March 4 the game lost a cricket legend and the greatest leg spinner of all time. London Spirit lost their enigmatic coach and leader. His legacy transcends cricket and even sports on and off the field, in the commentary boxes and as a coach. He will be remembered for his cricketing genius, as a cultural icon and was simply one of a kind.
“His shirt number was 23 and so for those who are able, please be upstanding for the 23 seconds of applause for one of the greats of the game and London Spirit’s coach for the inaugural year of The Hundred, Shane Warne!” London Spirit dominated their northern opponents and won by 52 runs to register their second victory in a row.
Kieron Pollard starred with the bat as he bludgeoned 34 runs off just 11 balls to help power his side to a total of 160-6. Originals – led by England white-ball captain Jos Buttler - were woeful with the bat and were bowled out for 108 in 98 balls as Jordan Thompson finished with outstanding figures of 4-21, the best of the competition so far.
London Spirit captain Eoin Morgan, who smashed 37 off 26 balls, is delighted with his team’s start to the campaign. "It was clinical," he said. "It was tough, Manchester Originals bowled brilliantly in the powerplay and set a template and our guys came back in and said it was moving a little bit and hard to get away so we tried to hit them off it as much as we could and then try and replicate it with the ball and the guys were excellent. We went with the seamers from one end because they predominantly had right handers and we bowled spin at the other end.
"When everyone is struggling to hit over the boundary on the bigger side of the ground - the likes of Andre Russell and Kieron Pollard are the guys you pay the big bucks for because no long boundary is long enough for them, particularly when you're taking pace off the ball they just seem to muscle it. Kieron just continues to get better and better but his value as a leader within the group is brilliant as well."
He added: "I bowled more sets of 10 than any other captain last year and it didn't work - I learnt the hard way - but a bowler like Mason Crane, who can beat both edges, and certainly try and control his length and take wickets, he might get hit for a couple of sixes but they are taking on the deepest men in the ground. He was outstanding today.
"We've won twice as many games as we did last year. We are very real about how long the competition and how you have to play to get to the latter stages of the competition but it is a great start." London Spirit’s next match will see them travel to Southampton on Friday evening to face defending champions Southern Brave, while the Originals will host Trent Rockets at Old Trafford on Saturday.
