Tom Curran smashed 43 from just 28 balls and took three wickets as the Oval Invincibles beat the Southern Braves by eight runs and all but secured the top spot and their place in The Hundred final.
Chris Jordan took three wickets, all cleanly bowled, to leave the Invincibles 90-7 before Curran rescued the innings with a vital 49-run partnership from just 22 balls with by Nathan Sowter to lift the Invincibles to 139-7.
Curran took three wickets, as the Invincibles spinners dominated the middle sets, to restrict the Braves to 131-7 in reply.
Tom Curran helped the Oval Invincibles to victory and a place in the final
Tim David top-scored with 44 and hit four in the last five balls of the match for six, but the Braves dropped to fourth in the table, with a crucial final-round clash against Manchester Originals next. Wednesday.
Sam Billings chose to bat first and Jason Roy bowled his first ball from George Garton for four years then had early life after he edged Craig Overton straight to Tymal Mills at short fine leg, but Mills lost sight of the ball at the crucial moment.
Will Jacks pulls a huge six from Garton and slices a wide full toss to short third man for four, but is trapped lbw by Overton. Roy hit three boundaries with a pull, a flick and a scoop in the final set of Overton’s powerplay as the Invincibles reached 38-1.
Thirteen deliveries without a boundary followed, and the pressure soon told as Roy was bowled cleanly ahead of the wicket to an 89mph Jordan delivery, and Rehan Ahmed was trapped by Tawanda Muyeye at stumps. front.
Heinrich Klaasen hit three boundaries in four balls, including a glorious shot to extra cover, before Jordan sent his middle stump flying off the ground with a beauty Jordan dismissed by Sam Billings on the second ball for his third dismissal in a devastating spell of bowling.
Tymal Mills took a spectacular one-handed return catch out of the air to remove Sam Curran and when Ross Whiteley was run out the Invincibles crashed to 90-7, only for Tom Curran to save the innings had 43 off 28 in a partnership of 49. Just 22 balls to Sowter.
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Southern Brave bowler Tymal Mills takes an amazing one-handed catch off his own bowling!
Tom Curran hit three consecutive boundaries off Mills, lifted Jordan for a huge six over mid-wicket in the penultimate set, and hit Mills over the top for a six in a final set that went for 17 runs to push the Invincibles to 139-7.
In reply, Finn Allen hit Spencer Johnson over mid-on, before rampaging him over short fine leg. Devon Conway bowled Johnson for a boundary, before lifting Sowter for six over the over, and hitting four to mid-wicket. Tom Curran broke the opening stand with a disguised slow ball that hit Conway behind.
The spin duo Adam Zampa and Sowter dominated after the powerplay, bowling four sets in tandem as the Brave failed to score a boundary for 26 deliveries. Allen launched Tom Curran for a four and a six through square leg but skied his next delivery and Roy came in from the top to take a difficult catch in the second juggle.
Shortly after Jacks defeated Leus du Plooy and Zampa dismissed Vince, who was lingering. Colin Ackermann beat a Sam Curran slow ball straight to deep mid-wicket, before Garton edged Billings’ Tom Curran.
David made some late fireworks with five big sixes to cheer the crowd, but Brave was beaten.
The Rockets kept a small hope alive
Trent Rockets’ title defense remains in the balance but in better form than ever after they thrashed Birmingham Phoenix by 46 runs in the last Hundred Men’s match at Trent Bridge, in front of a record 15,551 crowd.
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Watch the best of the action as the Southern Braves and Oval Invincibles face off in The Hundred
Off-spinner Matt Carter (two for 15) and Australia all-rounder Daniel Sams (3-17) stood with the ball as Phoenix, already dismissed, could only manage 116-9 despite 38 in 22 overs. balls from Jamie Smith in response to the Rockets’ 162-6, where Colin Munro (34 off 17), Sam Hain (30 off 21) and Alex Hales (27 off 14) were the main contributors.
The result puts the Rockets on seven points, level in tied-second with the Southern Brave and Manchester Originals and four points behind the leader Oval Invincibles. The Brave and the Originals will face off in Manchester next Wednesday after the Rockets defeated the Invincibles on Monday.
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Watch Joe Root take a stunning catch for Trent Rockets to dismiss England teammate Moeen Ali for Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred
What’s next?
There are four games in The Hundred on Sunday, with Manchester Originals vs Northern Superchargers at Emirates Old Trafford and Welsh Fire vs. London Spirit in Cardiff.
Sunday August 20, 10:30 am
Sunday August 20, 2:00 pm
The Originals Women are out of play-off contention, while already qualified Superchargers will be looking for a win to boost their hopes of topping the table and qualifying directly for the final. The Fire Women, on the other hand, will secure a play-off spot at least with a win against the Spirit.
In the men’s competition, the Originals, Superchargers, Fire and Spirit are still in the play-off mix.
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