OI vs TR, Final Review | Nathan Sowter’s ten balls of magic take limelight as Invincibles complete three-peat
Oval Invincibles complete Hundred Mens three-peat after defeating the Trent Rockets by 26 runs at Lords on August 31. Will Jacks and Jordan Cox set the tone with explosive knocks, and Nathan Sowter stole the show with a magical ten-ball over to ensure a dominant win in the final.
Oval Invincibles won the toss and elected to bat first in the all-important final of the Hundred Men’s competition. The two openers started with some fearless strokes at the start, and though Twanda Muyeye was eventually dismissed on the 16th ball by Dillon Pennington, the Invincibles still finished the powerplay strongly with the score reading 43/1 after 25 balls. Runs started to flow at a brisk rate as the partnership between Will Jacks and Jordan Cox added another 40 runs in the next 25 balls, taking the score to 83/1 at the halfway stage. The partnership of 87 was looking dangerous at the crease until it was finally broken on the 70th ball by Rehan Ahmed as Cox edged the ball to the keeper after a great knock of 40 off 28 deliveries. Despite the wicket, the defending champions were still in a commanding position at 127/2 after 75 balls. Another big score was on the cards with Jacks smashing the Trent Rockets’ bowlers all around the park until his impressive knock of 72 off 41 deliveries was brought to an end by Marcus Stoinis on the 85th ball. Though this dismissal might have put a bit of a break on the scoring rate, the cameos from Sam Curran and Donnovan Ferreira at the backend made sure the Oval franchise reached a competitive score of 168/5 in the end.
This was one of the highest scores in a Hundred’s finals, and the Curran brothers and Jason Behrendorff made sure they made the chase challenging for the Rockets as they were restricted to a score of 32/0 after the first 25 balls. The situation did not improve after the power play as Nathan Sowter came into the attack with a magical ten-ball over, where he conceded only three runs and dismissed the top three batters of the Rockets. With Tom Banton, Joe Root, and Rehan Ahmed sent back into the dressing by the leggie, the Nottingham-based franchise were in a tricky position at the halfway stage, with the score reading 51/3 after 50 balls. There was some hope created for the Rockets with Marcus Stonis at the crease, who played an impactful knock of 64 off 38 balls, but did not get any support at the other end, as the Invincibles chipped away with the wickets at the other end. While the Aussie batter was still at the crease towards the end, the game was already in the Invincibles' grasp with the team needing 33 off the last five deliveries. In the end, the Rockets were restricted to 142/8, and the Oval franchise won the game by 26 runs. With this win, the Sam Billings-led side won their third consecutive Hundred Men's title.
Nathan Sowter was awarded the player of the match for his incredible spell of 3/27 in his full quota of 20 balls.
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