This years edition of The Hundred came to an end yesterday with a pair of finals that apart from the presence of Trent Rockets sides in both matches were about as different as could be. This post looks back at the day.
TOTAL DOMINATION
In the Women’s match Trent Rockets won the toss and told Sun Risers Leeds to bat first. Sun Risers were 24-3 after 19 balls. Then Annabel Sutherland and Deepti Sharma hinted at a revival, before Sharma fell at the exact halfway point of the innings, bowled by Charley Phillips for 12, to make it 56-4. Four balls and two runs later Sutherland was on her way back to the dugout, stumped by Mooney off Adams for 25. Jess Jonassen negotiated her first two balls carefully, but was then run out, Georgia Adams’ fine throw being well gathered by Georgia Elwiss who broke the stumps to make it 58-6. Samantha Bates clean bowled Darcey Carter for a duck to make it 62-7. Dani Gibson and Kate Cross fought hard, but shortly after skipper Gibson had become only the second player to cross 20 in what was turning into a horror show of a batting performance, she gave Kim Garth a catch off Ash Gardner to make it 82-8. With no recognized batters left run scoring became very slow, and eventually Cross had a wild cross-batted swipe at one from Georgia Adams, missed and was bowled to make it 88-9 from 87 balls. Four balls and three runs later an innings that barely got started was at an end, Cassidy McCarthy pinned LBW for 2 by Samantha Bates to make it 91 all out from 91 balls. Sophia Dunkley at the top of the Rockets order continued her majestic form this tournament, moving her aggregate past 300 in the course of the innings, well supported by Beth Mooney. Mooney by her own stratospheric standards had had a quiet tournament with the bat, but she has a habit of delivering when it really counts, and being well aware that the only way her opponents could win this was by taking ten wickets she settled in to bat through at one end. Although Dunkley and number three Natalie Sciver-Brunt were out in the space of four balls, the game was as good as done by then. Dunkley had scored 41 from 23 balls, with four fours and two sixes, while the current England captain had 4 from two balls. The score at her dismissal was 74-2 from 43 balls. Gardner joined Mooney, and the two Aussies were absolutely ruthless in executing the last part of the job, taking 11 more balls to score 18 runs needed for the win. Rockets had won by eight wickets with a barely credible 46 balls to spare. They have been the best team at this tournament, and have improved as it went along. Full scorecard here.
A BATTLE ROYAL
In the men’s match Manchester Super Giants won the toss and told Trent Rockets to bat first. Rockets made a blistering start, lost wickets in the middle of their innings, and were then given hope by some big hitting from Lewis Gregory (32 from 16 balls) and Craig Overton (11 from five balls). They tallied 158-8, a fine but not unassailable score. Tim Seifert was in tremendous form for the Super Giants. He and Paul Walter kicked off the chase with a stand of 66 in 31 balls. Jos Buttler, the leading career run scorer in T20 history, then weighed in with 23 off 14 balls, his dismissal making the score 100-2 from 55 balls. Third to go was Seifert, caught by Billings off Aamir for 72 (38) with the score at 136 from 78 balls. 23 off 22 balls is normally considered a walk in the park in this format, but Super Giants made hard work of it. In the end Liam Dawson hit the 98th ball of their innings for six to get them over the line. Scorecard here. In their own ways both these matches were well worth following, the first because although it took any suspense out of the occasion the sheer brilliance of the Trent Rockets women, who did just about everything right and controlled their final from beginning to end was compelling of itself, and the second because it was a grand fight between two strong sides neither of whom would yield an inch.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
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