OI vs LS, AI Simulation | Behrendorff shines with three-fer as Invincibles emerge victorious in second derby game

‌Pitch and Weather 

There was some early seam movement for the pacers at the Kennington Oval, but the pitch flattened out in the second innings, making it easier for the batters to play their shots.

The conditions in London were cool and breezy as the skies remained clear with no sign of any rain.

Toss 

London Spirit won the toss and elected to bat first

Lineups

Oval Invincibles: Will Jacks, Tawanda Muyeye, Jordan Cox, Sam Curran, Donovan Ferreira, Sam Billings(c/wk), Tom Curran, Rashid Khan, Saqib Mahmood, Nathan Sowter, Jason Behrendorff.

London Spirit: Jamie Smith(wk), David Warner, Kane Williamson(c), Ollie Pope, Ashton Turner, Sean Dickson, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Luke Wood, Richard Gleeson, Jafer Chohan.

Match Report

London Spirit won the toss and chose to bat first on a good-looking batting track at the Kennington Oval. The opening duo of David Warner and Jamie Smith started well and finished the powerplay on a strong score of 46/0 after 25 balls. Though the two batters had negated the early seaming conditions, they started to feel the pressure once spinners came into play. As the runs suddenly dried up, Smith succumbed to the guile of  Rashid Khan on the 35th ball on a score of 24 off 16 deliveries. However, Warner was joined by skipper Kane Williamson in the middle as they both steadied the innings towards the halfway stage to take the score to 86/1. The partnership between the two batters was looking threatening until Rashid spoiled the party once again as he deceived Warner with a well-disguised Googly, which crashed into his middle and leg stump. With Warner being dismissed after a valiant knock of 35 off 27 balls, the runs started to dry up once again, with only 32 runs coming in the next 25 balls. Though the Spirit had wickets in hand, they were still restricted to 118/2 after 75 balls. The situation went from bad to worse for the visitors as Jason Benrendorff came back for his third over and dismissed Williamson after a calm and composed knock of 28 off 24. Ollie Pope was the next to go as the left-arm pacer cleaned him up with a brilliant toe-crushing yorker. The innings started to crumble as Sean Dickson suffered a soft dismissal as he lobbed a simple catch back to Sam Curran on the 82nd ball. Though there were some small cameos from Jamie Overton and Ashton Turner, the Oval Invincibles ended the innings nicely as Turner became Behrendorff’s third victim in the penultimate over and Overton was dismissed by Saqib Mahmood on the last delivery. The Spirit’s innings finally ended on a final score of 146/7, which seemed below par on the surface.

While Spirit had a brisk and steady start to their innings, the defending champions started with a bang as Will Jacks took the attack to the bowlers straight away and Tawanda Muyeye rotated the strike at the other end. With 50 runs coming off the first 25 balls were once again the favorites. However, Liam Dawson came into the attack and finally gave the visitors their first breakthrough as Muyeye was dismissed on the 27th ball. Despite the minor blip, Jordan Cox took on the supporting role after the opening batter, with Jacks continuing with his fearless stroke-making. The Invincibles scored 41 runs in the next 25 balls, taking them to a solid score of 91/1 after 50 balls. Though it seemed like the two batters would take the Invincibles to a comfortable win, Richard Gleeson came into the attack and got the big wicket of Jacks on the 54th ball. This wicket brought a bit of a break in the scoring as the game was back in the balance. Despite the runs drying up in the last 10 balls, Curran and Cox still held the innings together in the next few deliveries, taking the score to 121/2 after 75 balls. Though the equation of 22 off the last 25 balls looked simple, a couple of quick wickets got the two-time champions in a spot of bother. While Cox was dismissed on the 80th ball by Gleeson for 33, Curran threw his wicket away on 27 with a rash shot off Luke Wood on the 87th ball. Unfortunately for the visiting team, the efforts to bring the game down to the last ten balls went in vain since all it took was a fiery cameo by Donovan Ferreira towards the end to take the Invincibles to a six-wicket win with seven balls to spare. This was also the seventh consecutive win for the Invincibles against the Spirit in the Hundred

Player of the match

The player of the match was Jason Behrendorff for his terrific spell of 3/22 in his 20 balls.

Scorecard