On a night of boundary-fueled brawl at the Kia Oval, Manchester Originals ravaged their way to the men’s Hundred’s highest successful run-chase, sweeping past a goal set by Southern Brave that appeared to be intimidating with seven wickets and four balls to spare.
Even though Jos Buttler was absent at the end, the victory was still secured in impressive fashion when Jamie Overton crashed Chris Jordan high over long-off. Jos Buttler was at the peak of his domineering form, smashing 82 off 46.
Following a break for mopping-up after rain canceled the women’s elimination match, it appeared that Brave had overcome the disadvantage of losing the toss and being inserted to become the first team to register three half-centuries in a 100-ball innings. With 69 off 38, Finn Allen established the early pace for the innings.
James Vince then added a 24-ball fifty in the closing stages. Devon Conway was orderly and tidy in the gaps, anchoring the innings with an unbeaten 51 off 38.
However, once Originals began their pursuit in a brutal manner, it was immediately questioned whether Brave had used their batting resources wisely. After hitting five fours and two sixes off of 14 powerplay deliveries, Phil Salt‘s first three balls all went to the boundary, despite the fact that two of them were thick edges between slip and gully. Originals scored 61 runs without losing any wickets.
Only once the fielding limits were lifted did the scoring rate increase. Buttler smashed Craig Overton for his first six down the ground before Salt delivered two more vicious hits in a set that cost 21 runs. Buttler’s lone error came from his second ball, when he just cleared cover running back.
Buttler kept the pressure on by hitting Mitchell Santner into the crowd before new batter Max Holden carved and scooped George Garton for sixes from his fourth and seventh balls. Salt eventually fell to his next ball to depart for an explosive 47 off 17, and Vince roared in celebration after scooping a low catch in the covers as Mitchell Santner’s introduction paid off.
Originals were 115 for 1 at the halfway point after racing to 100 from 41 balls, matching their own record from the 2022 edition. After Buttler reached his half-century in 26 balls and the Originals skipper hit back-to-back boundaries off Tymal Mills, the Brave’s seamers continued to suffer as Jordan was dismissed for 17 in the following set. The competition’s top wicket-taker then terminated Holden’s cameo with a slower delivery.
When Originals required 26 runs off 20 balls, Buttler maintained his methodical attack by crashing Rehan Ahmed for two more sixes over a span of ten consecutive deliveries from the young leg spinner.
When Buttler finally top-edged one into the night sky to be held by the scrambling Rehan, the necessary number was down to 17. Laurie Evans then delivered a thunderous blow into the crowd off Mills to keep Originals on pace.
The event has recently received some strong support from England’s white-ball skipper, Jos Buttler, who has also increased his lead atop the run-scoring statistics. This is his first complete season of participation, and he will now captain Originals against Oval Invincibles at Lord’s on Sunday, hoping to improve on the team’s performance last season when he wasn’t there.
Buttler had no qualms about asking Brave to establish an objective following the early game’s abandonment and the danger of additional rain disrupting events in south London. However, he added: “Once we got that momentum it was hard to stop us.” He later acknowledged that he was “a little disappointed” with his team’s effort with the ball, which included giving up 20 additional goals.
Despite only managing four scoring shots in the first 15 balls, the Brave openers still had 24 on the board thanks to a combination of leg byes and wides. After the powerplay, this number increased to 37 without loss. The Originals new-ball pair of Richard Gleeson and Josh Little also saw some swing and seam movement.
After shooting a rolling ramp shot right into the grille of his helmet after scoring his first goal off a thick edge over slip, Allen needed to be evaluated by the physio. While Conway got rolling by chipping his fourth ball over cover for four, and Little was launched for a wonderfully shot six over deep midwicket, there weren’t many other instances of timing during the shaky start.
Following two consecutive boundaries in the eighth set, Allen then dismissed Calvin Harrison for four and six, followed by another straight drive over the ropes off Zaman Khan, to bring up a 31-ball half-century and put Brave on the offensive with 84 for none at the halfway point of their innings. In the 12th, Harrison was once more the target as Allen and Conway both successfully cleared the ropes in a set that cost 20.
Allen was eventually dismissed when attempting to reverse-scoop and feathering a catch behind, though, two balls after blasting Paul Walter over long-on for his fifth six and setting a record opening stand for the competition.
The one-time Originals would successfully advance the ball, they were still able to maintain their lead in the scoring. Vince got off to a poor start as well, scoring just six runs off his opening 10 balls, but a flicked six off Zaman appeared to jolt him into action.
Brave’s skipper scored 40 runs off his next 12 balls, costing Originals since they missed the cut-off and were only able to remove four players from the field for the final 11 deliveries.
Conway had played solidly throughout the innings without ever taking the lead. In the final set, as Brave recorded the highest Hundred total at The Oval, Conway reached a 37-ball fifty, but Buttler’s men in black responded with an extraterrestrial outburst.