Oval Invincibles and Southern Brave Women celebrate
©Reuters
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The Hundred Men's and Women's Finals - Live Scores, Match Reports, Results, Scorecards and Reactions - 27th August
Here are all The Hundred Men's and Women's Finals - Live Scores, Match Reports, Results, Scorecards and Reactions for the 27th August.
Top Tournament Stats - The Hundred Men's 2023
Oval Invincibles (Men) vs Manchester Originals (Men), Final
Oval Invincibles managed a brilliant fightback to beat Manchester Originals and take the men's Hundred at Lord's today.
Some top bowling from the Originals cut the Invincibles to 34-5, however,Tom Curran and Jimmy Neesham struck back, sharring an unbroken 127 run partnership , a record highest partnership in the men's Hundred.
Tom Curran hit 5x6s in his 67 not out from 34 balls, while Neesham added an unbeaten 57 from 33 to take the Invincibles to a defendable 161-5.
Manchester Originals had previously chased 197 to beat Southern Brave in the eliminator on Saturday, but opener Phil Salt went for just 25 and then followed four wickets for 17 runs, including Jos Buttler, bowled for 11 and Laurie Evans out for just 1.
Max Holden kept faint hopes alive with 37, leaving the Originals needing an unlikely 32 from the final 10 balls.
Tom Curran continued his fine day by conceding only nine from the first five, then brother Sam closed out the game to leave Originals on 147-6 and the Invincibles victors by 14 runs.
This left the Originals nursing a second successive final defeat, while the Invincibles take the men's title for the first time, joining Southern Brave women as the Hundred champions for 2023.
Oval Invincibles captain Sam Billings said: "When at some point in your career you hang up your boots you look back at when you’ve won things, so to win in the manner in the manner we have over the last three weeks has been incredible.
“The standout was probably Tom Curran tonight but all through there have been different people performing and stepping up and that’s the sign of a good team.
“Partnerships are so key, more in this format than in T20 probably. It’s also a lopsided powerplay where you don’t bowl the same amount to both sides, With the nuances of this game it is partnerships we needed and what a partnership it was – the largest in the Hundred so far.
“I was surprised Originals only played one spinner. All the data trends point to two or even three spinners at Lord’s over the last three years and we looked at that. We are very lucky Jacksy is more than a part-time bowler, so as soon as the left-handers came in It enabled me to expose that match-up. I’m a bit of a nerd when it comes to data, and I do my homework – I enjoy that side of the game and in games like this those things make a huge difference. The difference has been the small moments which last year we let slip from our grasp, this time we’ve managed to wrestle back the momentum.
“The most impressive thing (about Tom Curran’s innings) was it wasn’t manufactured. Tom played some shots you can’t premeditate. He is played on instinct and when he plays his best cricket, he does that. The Big bash was probably the start of his batting journey and the way he goes about it and the areas he hits it make it so difficult for people to bowl at him.”
Manchester Originals coach Simon Katich said: “It does feel like déjà vu being in here again this time of year, but look, you can be negative about it and yes, it’s a missed opportunity. At the same time we have played some amazing cricket to get to this stage and obviously there were six other teams who would have loved to be here today.
“We’ve done it two years on the bounce but haven’t been able to get over that final hurdle. I guess what it shows is the team which qualifies first has a good advantage. We felt like we were coming in with momentum after a great win last night and had a great start ot the game today, but unfortunately couldn’t quite finish it off when we had our opportunities.
“Credit to them they are a very good team. They have probably been the most consistent team throughout the tournament, but we certainly weren’t far behind and I’m proud of the efforts of all our players and staff to get us into this situation again.”
Top Tournament Stats - The Hundred Women's 2023
Southern Brave (Women) vs Northern Superchargers (Women), Final
Northern Superchargers 105 all out
Southern Brave 139-6
Result - Southern Brave won by 34 runs
Northern Superchargers won the toss and elected to field
Danni Wyatt finished as leading runscorer in the women’s Hundred as Southern Brave made it third time lucky with a 34-run win over Northern Superchargers to give Anya Shrubsole a fairytale send-off in the final at Lord’s.
Wyatt’s scintillating 59 from 38 balls meant she overhauled fellow England star Tammy Beaumont at the top of the standings with 295 runs in all. Freya Kemp 31 and Georgia Adams 27 lent support as Brave piled up 139-6 on a dry pitch, despite 3-21 for England speedster Kate Cross.
Jemimah Rodrigues, starved of strike for long periods, made 24 in the chase, but Kalea Moore returned 3-15 and Lauren Bell 3-21, while there were a trio of stumpings for Rhianna Southby as Superchargers were bowled out for 105.
It meant Brave, bridesmaids in the first two finals, finally got their hands on the trophy, a fitting end to a glittering career for retiring skipper Shrubsole, who took the match-clinching wicket in England’s World Cup winning triumph against India at the home of cricket six years ago.
Much of the Brave’s success on the run to the final had been built on the triumvirate of Smriti Mandhana, Wyatt and Mia Bouchier, but after being put in, two were gone in the blink of an eye.
Mandhana dismissed the first ball of the match to the point boundary only to slice the next from Grace Ballinger to fly-slip, while Bouchier played too soon at one from Cross to leave Brave 9-2.
However, it was a case of if the first two don’t get you the third will as Wyatt produced a gem of an innings. The England batter played shots all around the wicket, sweeping effectively and hitting inside out over the offside in racing to 50 from 35 balls with nine fours. A glorious straight six followed as she and Adams added 84 in 63 balls.
A mix-up meant Cross’ underarm throw ended Wyatt’s knock prematurely and Adams, dropped earlier by Georgia Wareham holed out to the same fielder for 27.
However, an extraordinary cameo from Kemp including swinging the bat out of her hands, lifted the Brave above par before she and Chloe Tryon both fell in Cross’ excellent final set.
Marie Kelly was given out lbw to the first ball of the chase from Bell, only to be reprieved on review, but undeterred the England speedster bowled her off the pads with the second.
Phoebe Litchfield took up the chase with two dismissive early fours in a bid to overhaul Wyatt once more as leading runscorer. She would though only get to 13 before swinging another Bell delivery to a catcher in the deep. Rodrigues picked up five from a misdirected Tryon throw at the stumps, but only 28 came from the powerplay.
Wicketkeeper Southby then took centre-stage with two brilliant pieces of glovework to stump first Hollie Armitage and then England newbie Bess Heath, the latter having previously hit Bell over the ropes for six.
Shrubsole joined in the fun with a farewell wicket of Alice Davidson-Richards and once Rodrigues holed out in the increasingly desperate pursuit of boundaries, Brave were all but home.
Southern Brave & England bowler Lauren Bell said: "It feels a lot better to be on the winning side for sure (after losing the previous two finals).
It was a special day for Anya (Shrubsole) and the team. There was a lot of chat about it being our third final. We'd not played anywhere near our best cricket before (in previous finals) and in finals it is really important to stick to your strengths and not get caught up in the moment.
I had flashbacks to year one and year two when we were 8-2, but this team has a lot of character. Danny and Gaz (Georgia Adams) built a really good partnership and Freya and Chloe got us to a defendable total.
Anya is understandably emotional. She is definitely ready to retire but it is always a sad day and when it has been your life for so long it's a big thing, but we have definitely sent her off in the best way possible.
We've shown a lot of character through this tournament and won a lot of games we shouldn't have won where we've got over the line. We know how to win and so many times someone has stepped up. That's probably why we won as we have a number of matchwinners in our team."
Northern Superchargers coach Danielle Hazel said: "We got beaten by the better team. We weren't quite at the races as a team today. There was probably a bit of nerves as it is a big stage for girls who haven't quite been on that stage before.
Brave have got a lot of internationals who have been on that stage more often.
I'm incredibly proud of what they have done today. We made a brave decision to go in a slightly different direction this year and it hasn't quite got us the ultimate goal but it has got us some really good reward throughout the comp.
Lotte (Charlotte Edwards) is winning (the coaching battle with her). Lotte is doing some really great things for women's cricket. She has been very successful and rightly she was the one to pick the trophy up."
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