A superb all-round display from Sunil Narine gave Oval Invincibles a winning start to their men’s Hundred campaign after a dramatic victory over London Spirit at Lord’s.
Having already taken two wickets in a miserly spell as the hosts were restricted to an all-out score of 131, Narine hit 13 off five balls at the death to rescue what looked a doomed chase, the visitors getting home with one delivery to spare.
After finishing rock bottom of the inaugural edition of The Hundred in 2021, winning just one match, Spirit were the surprise package last year as they reached the Eliminator, while Invincibles narrowly missed out on the playoffs in each of the first two seasons.
By contrast, Oval’s women’s side are the two-time champions, but saw hopes of a fast start to their defence dashed as the first half of Wednesday’s double-header was washed out without a ball being bowled.
The start of the men’s game was also delayed, but the weather eased in time to allow a full 100-ball-per-side contest, with Oval skipper Sam Billings winning the toss and electing to bowl.
Dan Lawrence, in fine domestic form this summer when not on international duty as the spare batter in England’s Ashes squad, opened the batting in his first game as Spirit captain and contributed to a flying start alongside Essex team-mate Adam Rossington.
Rossington hit three sixes, including a glorious scoop off Gus Atkinson, in his 39 off just 21 balls as the home side scampered to 81 for two just before the halfway stage. However, his departure - one of three top-order wickets for spinner Nathan Sowter - marked the start of Oval’s fightback with the ball as Spirit added only 50 runs off their final 53 deliveries.
Former West Indies spinner Narine was outstanding through the middle of the innings, his 20 balls costing just 14 runs and bringing the wickets of New Zealand all-rounder Daryll Mitchell and Matt Critchley.
Australia’s Matthew Wade added a useful 37 off 27 but his innings was ended by one of two superb catches from Jordan Cox running in from the boundary, part of a fine death spell shared by Curran brothers Sam and Tom to close out the innings as the final 15 deliveries leaked only 12 runs.
A score of 131 looked below par, with Oval boasting a fearsome batting lineup headed by England pair Jason Roy and Will Jacks, but Spirit made early inroads to leave the visitors behind the eight ball from the outset.
Roy helped Surrey team-mate Dan Worrall’s first ball of the reply for four but fell just two overs later when skying the same bowler on eight, while Jacks crunched Jordan Thompson for consecutive fours before picking out Lawrence at mid-off on 11.
That brought debutant Heinrich Klaasen to the crease. The South African picked up in March’s draft is considered one of the form white-ball batters in the world having excelled at this year’s IPL and in the inaugural SA20 in his homeland. However, Klaasen lasted only three balls before edging Worrall, who was only picked up last week as a replacement for injured England quick Olly Stone, to slip to leave Oval reeling at 24 for three.
Sam Curran’s 34 off 38 and Billings’ 25 off 15 took the chase deep but a superb piece of fielding from Wade to palm back what would have been a six from Atkinson left Oval still needing 15 runs from the final five balls.
Nathan Ellis’s wide off the first ball of the final set made the task easier, but it was Narine’s blow for six, which Mitchell caught beyond the boundary and could not throw back in time, that turned the tide.
