It was Curran’s night. Not Sam Curran – the England regular and player of the tournament at the T20 World Cup last year – but instead Tom, who is no longer just a canny fast bowler but a sparkling all-rounder, too. The elder Curran smashed an unbeaten 67 off 34 balls as Oval Invincibles beat Manchester Originals by 14 runs to win the men’s Hundred at Lord’s.
Curran’s innings was not just a late‑order blitz but also a rescue act, his partner for the ride New Zealand’s Jimmy Neesham. The pair met with their side in strife, five down and with 64 balls still left to address.
The game was spelled out for them: nudge, nurdle, hit a few when you’ve got your eye in and get something a little respectable on the board please lads. The reality was more brawny: Curran and Neesham smashed it to all parts, their unbeaten partnership of 127 lifting the final total to 161 for five.
Then the eyes fell on Jos Buttler, captain of the Originals and the leading run-scorer in the tournament by some way. But England’s great white-ball striker perished for just 11, and while the Originals pushed it close it was the side from the Oval jubilant at Lord’s.
The Originals had arrived here with momentum, their victory in the Eliminator on Saturday night beyond comprehensive: a Buttler special – 82 off 46 – had taken care of a record chase of 197, and their dominance continued with the ball to begin with in this game. Richard Gleeson found Jason Roy’s edge with the third ball of the match, Josh Little’s left arm discovered swing and nip, and the Invincibles were left feeling anything but.
A Sam Curran first-baller made it 15 for three, a Sam Billings leg-side strangle 28 for four, a miscue from Will Jacks 34 for five. Suddenly the side of the tournament, the one that had lost just once during the group stage, looked down and out.
Cue the riposte. Neesham nailed a rock-hard pull off Zaman Khan for four, but it was Tom Curran who took command. He took turns on the Originals quicks, pulling Jamie Overton and then Paul Walter for sixes before showing off on the front foot: Zaman was hit for back-to-back fours. Gleeson, too, was forced to watch Curran pull away for six.
Neesham struck it beautifully from one end, but it was Curran playing the innings of his life. The shot to bring up his half-century, off just 26 balls, was the cherry: Little, who had sparkled with the new ball, was uppercut into the stands. Curran finished with the straightest of sixes, his tournament batting average a staggering 175, his strike rate a touch higher. For Neesham, it was an unbeaten 57 off 33 balls; for the Invincibles there was hope, something that had sat far in the distance earlier in the piece.
Phil Salt drove and hacked away to lift the Originals, 25 runs running off his bat before he fell to the brothers: Tom was the bowler, with the ball flying into the hands of Sam. Buttler was more patient at the other end, but this is how he operates: waiting on his first few, seizing up all the angles and equations, holding off until the right moment to turn into, well, Jos Buttler.
- Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhone or the Google Play store on Android by searching for 'The Guardian'.
- If you already have the Guardian app, make sure you’re on the most recent version.
- In the Guardian app, tap the Menu button at the bottom right, then go to Settings (the gear icon), then Notifications.
- Turn on sport notifications.
On 11 off 14, it was time. Danny Briggs was the bowler, the left-arm spinner playing his first game of the tournament, and Buttler wasn’t to let him settle in. The batter advanced and was ready to strike, but the only connection was the ball with stumps. This was the game.
The leg-spinner Nathan Sowter accounted for Wayne Madsen before pulling off a fine hopscotch boundary catch to dismiss Laurie Evans, but Max Holden was still around to keep this thing ticking, straight-driving, reverse-scooping, playing all the tricks at the ground he calls home for Middlesex. Sam Curran, who was to still have his moments if not the occasion, had the left-hander lbw for 37, before sixes from Overton and Tom Hartley left 26 needed from nine. No bother; the two bowlers to close out the match? Tom and Sam Curran.
“When [Tom] has a clear mind in terms of both his technique but also his mentality, he strikes the ball as well as anyone,” said Invincibles captain, Sam Billings. “Both Currans, you know them well enough in terms of their work ethic, their competitiveness – you’d have them both in any team.”
