Jonathan Liew's report from the Oval
In comes an email from Tanya, who blazed the trail with our live coverage last night. “Torrential storm in Manchester right now!” she says. “What luck to have good weather for the opening matches.” True! Although it may not be the first time that London has been basking while poor old Manchester gets drenched.
And that’s me done, almost literally. I have a pool of porridge where my brain used to be. But what matters is that this half-crazy form of cricket, 40 balls shorter than T20, devoid of all those helpful pauses, is delivering some riveting entertainment. Thanks for your company, and sorry not to have got round to all the emails. The last word goes to Peter Gibbs: “It’s lovely to see cricket without the adverts. And free to air.”
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And here's Jos Buttler
He’s got a smile on his face and some magnanimity in his heart. “Really enjoyed it, thought it was a great game, great atmosphere here. I love the product.” Asked about the Originals’ injuries, he prefers to accentuate the positive. “There’s a lot of young guys in our team who will take a lot from this.” Yes, he says, it did feel a lot faster. Jos, you can say that again.
Billings speaks
“Unbelievable atmosphere,” says Sam Billings, wearing his medal. “One of the best grounds in the world to play at. Great to get a first win on the board and follow the example of the ladies yesterday.” The ladies! That will go down well with the readers in Iceland who popped up in Tanya’s OBO this time yesterday.
What is par in The Hundred, Rob Key wonders. “One-fifty,” says Billings firmly.
In his honour, a peachy moon appears in the deep blue twilight.
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“Am I a terrible person,” asks Miles Geffin, “for working out the run rate in the Hundred by dividing the balls bowled by six?”
“It’s only a matter of time,” says Peter Gibbs, “until we get The Sixty. Anyway, I’m enjoying this for the mo.” Me too. Just don’t ask me to make any sense of it.
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The Match Hero...
... is Sam Billings, for his 49 and his shrewd captaincy. How he and Buttler managed to captain so well while keeping wicket, I have no idea.
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The score, in case it matters
Originals 136-7 (Hartley 5, Klaasen 3) They just left themselves with too much to do. “Narine, for me, was the key,” says Nasser Hussain. So the Invincibles win, just like last night, and more importantly, the game has gone the distance, also like last night – if not managing to be quite as finely balanced.
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Invincibles win by nine runs!!
It’s all over! Sam Curran recovers his poise and the win is in the bag.
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Originals need 17 off three balls...
... and Sam Curran bowls a wide so wide that it’s a no-ball, so there’s a free hit. Originals need 15 off three!
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Wicket!! Brathwaite Roy b S Curran 37 (Originals 127-7)
Another one! The seriously big one! It’s in the slot, but Brathwaite can’t get hold of it and Jason Roy does the rest. Game off.
95 balls: Originals 127-6 (Brathwaite 37, Hartley 1) If only the Currans’ dad, Kevin, could see them now. Tom, after taking the wicket, nails his yorkers and allows Brathwaite only a two as he shapes to hit the ball out of the ground. The asking rate climbs to three runs a ball, and more. Originals need 19 off the final five.
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Wicket! Harrison c S Curran b T Curran 23 (Originals 122-6)
Calvin Harrison has done so well, but he can only club Tom Curran’s full toss to Sam Curran at mid-off. You know when you’ve been Curraned.
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90 balls: Originals 120-5 (Brathwaite 33, Harrison 21) Tom Curran hands over to Sam Curran, who’s firing his yorkers in at the toes... But then Harrison clips one for four! The partnership is 51 off 30, and it has kept this game alive. Originals need 26 off 10. And we’ve got another time-out. Phew!
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85 balls: Originals 112-5 (Brathwaite 31, Harrison 16) Tom Curran returns, and he can practically smell the Match Hero award – but Carlos Brathwaite may have something to say about that. He eases him over mid-off for six! And Harrison nicks for four. “The Originals are still in this game!” says Stuart Broad, who is such a good commentator that he went to last night’s game just to do his research. They need 34 off 15.
80 balls: Originals 99-5 (Brathwaite 24, Harrison 10) For a huge man, Brathwaite has a delicate touch. He laps Narine for two as Mahmood, apparently recovered from his side injury, makes a fine diving save. Well bowled Narine, who finishes with 1-22 off his 20 balls. Originals need 47 off 20: a tall order.
75 balls: Originals 93-5 (Brathwaite 19, Harrison 9) After that big five, Sowter manages to restrict the batsmen to singles, which is a good effort. Originals need 53 off 25.
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70 balls: Originals 88-5 (Brathwaite 17, Harrison 7) Calvin Harrison can see that something needs to be done, so he does it – stepping away to off and scooping Reece Topley for four. Shot! Brathwaite, getting the message, pulls for four as Sam Curran does well to save it but can’t stop his deflection sliding into the rope. And then Brathwaite hits another four, with a cut. Game on! Originals need 58 off 30.
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65 balls: Originals 73-5 (Brathwaite 7, Harrison 2) The run-rate required is just over two per ball, which is hard to sustain for long, with the top order all gone. And Brathwaite hasn’t got into the groove – his runs have come off 12 balls. Originals need 73 off 35.
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60 balls: Originals 69-5 (Brathwaite 6, Harrison 0) Sowter dropped short and gave Munro a simple cut, which seemed like manna from heaven for the poor old Originals – but then came the wicket. Some of the credit goes to Tom Curran for that exemplary first five.
Wicket!! Munro c Roy b Sowter 26 (Originals 69-5)
Holed out to long-off! And he was supposed to be the anchor.
55 balls: Originals 62-4 (Munro 22, Brathwaite 3) Narine is too good: he’s got Brathwaite blazing at phantoms.
50 balls: Originals 58-4 (Munro 21, Brathwaite 2) Time for Tom Curran, who batted so well at the death. He bowls a sensational five, flummoxing Brathwaite twice, beating him with some outswing, then beating him again for lack of pace. At the halfway stage, the Originals are all over the place, but they’ve still got Brathwaite.
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45 balls: Originals 57-4 (Munro 20, Brathwaite 2) Here’s the legendary Carlos Brathwaite, with a job to do. Well bowled Nathan Sowter – yet another leggie, but a quick one, fizzing it down at around 60mph and going for only seven off his first five.
Wicket! Lammonby c Ingram b Sowter 2 (Originals 50-4)
Another one! It’s that man Ingram again, taking another good sharp catch as Lammonby’s confidence leads him to play a hockey shot to short extra.
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40 balls: Originals 50-3 (Munro 18, Lammonby 2) Here’s Tom Lannonby, oozing confidence after his exploits for Somerset. But it’s Munro who catches the eye by lofting Will Jacks for six!
35 balls: Originals 42-3 (Munro 11, Lammonby 1) Narine is befuddling everyone with his variations. Munro got a leading edge to short third man, where Saqib Mahmood was bamboozled by the spin and went down clutching his side. I hope it’s not too serious. After a pause, Buttler reverse-sweeps for four, his first big shot – and then perishes.
Wicket!! BUTTLER c Ingram b Narine 8 (Originals 41-3)
The big one! Buttler doesn’t know what this ball is and can only pop it to extra cover, where Ingram takes a fine catch with a swallow dive. The Invincibles are ahead now.
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30 balls: Originals 35-2 (Buttler 4, Munro 10) Billings gives Topley a slip, then changes his mind – and Munro nicks the next ball for four! The crowd are sounding restless, and Jos Buttler may be too. The Originals are not doing a great job of giving their captain the strike: he’s faced eight balls out of 30, and not got going at all. Are you Dawid Malan in disguise?
25 balls: Originals 28-2 (Buttler 4, Munro 4) Reece Topley bowls a superb five – wicket, dot, dot, dot, and only then a four, thumped down the ground by Munro. Topley’s reward is to be asked to bowl another five. The powerplay belongs to the Invincibles.
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Review! Munro escapes
Colin Munro saves his skin, or Buttler does it for him – given LBW b Topley, but there was a nick.
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Wicket! Clarke c Billings b Topley 15 (Originals 24-2)
A ramp, a nick, a catch!
20 balls: Originals 24-1 (Buttler 4, Clarke 15) Hang on, here’s Sunil Narine, with his spinning all-sorts. He thinks he’s got Buttler LBW, but the umpire demurs, and Buttler hits back with a soft-hands two, taking a leaf out of Billlings’s book.
“Invincibles?” says Tony McKnight. “Is this a case of over-promising and under-delivering?” Ha.
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15 balls: Originals 18-1 (Buttler 1, Clarke 12) Here’s Saqib Mahmood, fresh from making Babar Azam his bunny, so Sam Billings opts not to open the bowling with a spinner. Clarke steps away and carves through the covers for four, and Buttler is still a spectator.
10 balls: Originals 11-1 (Buttler 1, Clarke 6) Joe Clarke comes in and just eases his first ball for four through gully. Jos Buttler has faced only two balls, a dot and a single stroked through the covers. Sam Curran tries the slowest slower ball ever seen, and Clarke waits for it and pushes a single.
5 balls: Originals 4-1 (Buttler 0, Clarke 0) Sam Curran is one of rather too many people with the Phil Foden peroxide hair, but he gets it right with the ball, bowling it full, swinging it, and restricting Phil Salt just one of his rasping fours.
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Wicket! Salt c Ingram b S Curran 4 (Originals 4-1)
A slower ball, and Salt chips it into the stratosphere. All Colin Ingram has to do is not panic, and he doesn’t.
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It’s going to be Jos Buttler and Phil Salt to open the batting – two England openers, although I don’t think they’ve appeared for England together.
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Gary Naylor is back for more. “If a batsman is in for 30 balls (and one ought to be),” he says, “they should make 60. That leaves only 86 to get in 70 for the others. Easy pickings.” Up to a point, Lord Naylor. Sport isn’t quite that simple, is it?
Invincibles finish on 145
100 balls: Invincibles 145-8 (T Curran 29, Mahmood 1) Tom Hartley returns, which suggests that Jos Buttler is a fan of ring composition. He gets a couple of deliveries dead right, tying Curran down, but then there’s a six! It’s the only scoring stroke off the final four balls, though Curran still finishes with an excellent unbeaten 29 off 18 balls. He and Billings have given their team a chance. Time to take a deep breath – see you shortly.
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95 balls: Invincibles 137-8 (T Curran 21, Mahmood 1) Curran belts Parkinson for a couple of twos, turns down a single, then takes one, and watches Saqib Mahmood get off the mark with a perfectly competent clip to long-on.
90 balls: Invincibles 131-8 (T Curran 16, Mahmood 0) So with ten balls left, the wickets are tumbling and all that stands between the Invincibles and being bowled out is Tom Curran.
“There is a good-sized crowd,” notes Robert Jones. Yes – a full house, allegedly. “But they seem to be mainly the adults who would normally attend T20s. I thought that the competition was supposed to be aimed at attracting family groups – particularly mothers and their children who would not normally attend cricket. Perhaps they are all at home watching on television!”
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Sowter b Klaassen 4 (Invincibles 131-8)
And another! Nathan Sowter whacked his first ball for four, but his second hits the pad and the stumps.
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Wicket! Billings c Clarke b Klaassen 49 (Invincibles 127-7)
The big one! Billings gives himself room and tries to loft it over the ring, but gets a toe-end and misses out on what would have been a well-deserved fifty.
85 balls: Invincibles 123-6 (Billings 45, T Curran 16) Suddenly Originals need a wicket again, because Curran has come in and gone straight from nought to sexy. He gets his third boundary with a rasping pull off Brathwaite.
80 balls: Invincibles 116-6 (Billings 44, T Curran 10) Matt Parkinson returns with his slow-mo grunting leg-breaks and concedes only three singles. The calm after the storm.
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75 balls: Invincibles 113-6 (Billings 43, T Curran 8) So Evans came and went, and here’s our second Curran of the innings – and he hooks his first ball for four. Great control. And then he shows Evans how to chip for four down the ground. But that’s still a fine five from Finn, with two wickets.
Wicket! Evans c Salt b Finn 0 (Invincibles 105-6)
Another one! Laurie Evans chips his second ball to mid-off. Is Billings going to run out of partners?
Wicket! Ingram c Brathwaite b Finn 17 (Invincibles 105-5)
The breakthrough! Ingram uppercuts one tall man straight to another, at short third.
70 balls: Invincibles 105-4 (Billings 43, Ingram 17) Harrison stays on for five more, a decision that Buttler may regret as Billings top-edges for six, to bring up the fifty partnership and ... the hundred. He adds a sweep for four for good measure sweeping as if his life depended on it.
65 balls: Invincibles 93-4 (Billings 32, Ingram 16) Facing Harrison, the erudite leggie, Billings keeps going across onto off stump to sweep. These two have almost doubled the score and raised the run rate too.
60 balls: Invincibles 88-4 (Billings 30, Ingram 13) The upshot of the coaching confab is that Fred Klaassen returns with his left-arm swing. He thinks he’s got Ingram caught down the leg side, but the umpire doesn’t quite agree. Billings steps away and cuts for four. And then he dabs to short midwicket, with the softest hands, to make a single into a two. We’ve had a few big shots to savour, but that was the small shot of the day so far.
“A message as short as the format,” says Anthony Richardson, briskly. “Why not merge the men’s and women’s tables? They’re playing for the same teams, so reflect that.” Another interesting point!
55 balls: Invincibles 80-4 (Billings 23, Ingram 12) Back comes Brathwaite, and Ingram greets him with a healthy disrespect, playing a stylish dab for four. Billings follows ups with a pull, also for four, just eluding Finn at deep square. Billings is in the mood, and his team’s hopes rest on his shoulders. His opposite number, Jos Buttler, calls for a time-out. We could do with one of those every five balls or so.
50 balls: Invincibles 69-4 (Billings 18, Ingram 6) Billings celebrates his escape by playing his first big shot, sweeping Parkinson into the crowd for six. And that’s the halfway stage, with the Originals still on top but the Invincibles hanging in there.
Review! Billings reprieved
He was given caught behind by Buttler off Parkinson, but he reviewed swiftly and the TV umpire, after some deliberation, found no evidence of a nick.
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45 balls: Invincibles 59-4 (Billings 9, Ingram 5) This partnership is trundling along at a run a ball.
And here’s John Starbuck, whose mere presence confirms the suspicion that this is proper cricket. “How come the Hundred, which makes such a show of being decimal for da kidz, fields sides of 11 players? Ten would be much more logical.” Ha. “Also, if the men’s contests don’t have as short boundaries as do the women’s games, why not add an extra run for an all-run four?”
40 balls: Invincibles 55-4 (Billings 8, Ingram 3) Another leggie comes on – Calvin Harrison, fresh from a psychology degree at Oxford Brookes. He uses this expertise to concede only six runs off his first five.
“Vaughan is seeing the pictures a fraction sooner than us,” says Peter Gibbs, in Selsey, watching the Beeb. “So Curran was bowled (‘BOWLED HIM!’ before the bails came off). Same issue as yesterday (‘It’s in the air!’ before she hit it). Is it just me or should BBC delay the vox by a half second? No need to adjust for Tuffers, he needs the extra reaction time.” Ha.
35 balls: Invincibles 49-4 (Billings 4, Ingram 1) This is a big rebuilding job now. Where’s Marizanne Kapp when you need her?
A tweet comes in from Henry Rawlings. “Might it be argued,.” he muses, “that Lannonby wasn’t in full control after taking that catch and got rid of the ball a bit too soon... I thought that was why Roy was hanging about.” Interesting point.
Wicket! Jacks c Finn b Parkinson 15 (Invincibles 48-4)
On comes Matt Parkinson, the slowest spinner in town, and Jacks slog-sweeps him straight to deep square.
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30 balls: Invincibles 41-3 (Jacks 9, Billings 3) On comes Carlos Brathwaite, who was a commentator last night. Will Jacks shows his chutzpah by pulling him straight back past him for four – technically a chance. Billings, so far, has settled for some hard-run singles.
25 balls: Invincibles 34-3 (Jacks 4, Billings 1) Buttler had brought Hartley back for his second spell, and third five, of the powerplay, and it paid off handsomely as he got the big scalp. In comes Sam Billings with his team in some trouble, so he may need to tread carefully. The man of the night so far is Tom Hartley, who has 2 for 16 off 15 balls.
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WICKET!! Roy c Lannonby b Hartley 20 (Invincibles 32-3)
A full toss, a big pull, and a great catch! Tom lannonby, diving forward fearlessly at deep midwicket. That’s a huge moment.
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20 balls: Invincibles 27-2 (Roy 16, Jacks 2) On comes Steven Finn, an England star in his day. But Buttler doesn’t give him a slip and Roy nicks him for four! Then he plays a better shot, walking across his stumps to flick for four. And now, on the BBC, we have Chris from Love Island a couple of years ago. If only EW Swanton had lived to see this.
15 balls: Invincibles 17-2 (Roy 7, Jacks 1) Buttler brought on Fred Klaassen, another left-armer. He went full, to find some swing, paid for it as Roy tickled for four, but then cashed in as Narine and Roy failed to review. Originals on top, but Roy still there.
Wicket! Narine LBW b Klaassen 2 (Invincibles 16-2)
Another one! Narine goes for the big heave on middle-and-leg, misses, and doesn’t review when the finger goes up – which turns out to be a blunder (by his partner, Roy), as it was missing leg stump.
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10 balls: Invincibles 10-1 (Roy 2, Narine 1) Hartley continues and Phil Tufnell, his fellow slow left-armer, is excited because there’s some spin. “That’s a great set of ten,” says Tuffers. And Buttler has two leggies to turn to in a minute.
5 balls: Invincibles 7-1 (Roy 1, Narine 0) There was an LBW shout first ball! Against Roy, not given, going down, but a moral victory for the slow left-armer Hartley. Then Sam Curran gave him the charge and hit a six off the fourth ball of the match. Last night, the first six came off the 95th ball.
Wicket! S Curran b Hartley 6 (Invincibles 7-1)
Sam Curran blasts a six – and then misses a straight one! Well bowled Tom Hartley, spearing it in from over the wicket.
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We have the fireworks, a traditional part of The Hundred since 21 July 2021.
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Roy’s opening partner isn’t Will Jacks, as expected – it’s Sam Curran.
Jos Buttler has his helmet on, so either he’s giving the new ball to a spinner, or he’s expecting Jason Roy to play the ramp from the start.
A wry tweet from Stephen Moss of The Guardian. “Glamorgan win thriller against Warwickshire by two wickets in final over at Cardiff. What a fantastic sport cricket is. This 50-over format could be the future.”
So many players to look out for
Both opening pairs! Lammonby! Brathwaite! Finn! Parkinson! Evans! A Curran or two! Narine! Mahmood! Topley! It’s just one exclamation mark after another. And I’ve probably left out the one player who will seize the moment.
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Teams: meet the Originals
Lockie Ferguson, alas, is unfit.
Manchester Originals 1 Phil Salt, 2 Jos Buttler (capt, wkt), 3 Joe Clarke, 4 Colin Munro, 5 Tom Lammonby, 6 Carlos Brathwaite, 7 Calvin Harrison, 8 Tom Hartley, 9 Fred Klaassen, 10 Steven Finn, 11 Matt Parkinson.
Teams: meet the Invincibles
Oval Invincibles 1 Jason Roy, 2 Will Jacks, 3 Colin Ingram, 4 Laurie Evans, 5 Sam Billings (capt, wkt), 6 Sam Curran, 7 Tom Curran, 8 Nathan Sowter, 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Saqib Mahmood, 11 Reece Topley.
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The other captain...
... is another England player, Sam Billings. Rob Key teases him about being a Kent player in the Surrey dressing-room. “Great blend of Kent and Surrey lads,” he says with a smile.
Toss: Jos Buttler wins and Originals will chase
Just like England. Except that he’s not out in the middle, he’s on the DJ’s stage.
The first tweet has landed. “Manchester Original Men XI is it @TimdeLisle?” says Gary Naylor. And then he proceeds to reel off his batting order. “Thomas De Quincey, JJ Thomson, Tony Wilson (capt), Norman Foster, Anthony Burgess, Davy Jones (wkt), Howard Jacobson, Les Dawson, Ian Curtis, Peter Saville, Marcus Rashford.” It’s a powerful line-up, and thank you for not finding room for the Gallaghers. But Rashford has to be a better batter than most of that lot, and Tony Wilson seems like the epitome of the non-playing captain, so I’d suggest roping in Gary Neville to take charge on the field. He certainly wouldn’t have the problem Kate Cross had last night – struggling to be heard.
Preamble: a slightly different ball game
Evening everyone and welcome to the bright new world of The Hundred. It’s the first-ever men’s match in cricket’s latest format. It’s Twenty20 with almost 20 per cent off!
Half a century ago, in 1971, two big changes came along to rock the British psyche: the first one-day international cricket match was played, and the currency went decimal. Tonight English (men’s) cricket finally catches up with the penny in its pocket by going decimal itself. Out goes the six-ball over, to be replaced by a five-ball thing that is supposed to be known as “a five”. Each team gets 20 of these, and instead of changing ends after every one of them, the fielding side only switch over every two non-overs. Plus, a bowler can bowl two of them in a row! It’s almost as if, in its long years of anguished planning for this moment, the ECB gave no thought at all to the poor old over-by-over correspondents. We don’t even know what to call ourselves now.
The Hundred began last night with a women’s match between the same teams, Oval Invincibles and Manchester Originals (and if you think the names are bad, wait till you see their mottos). I watched the game, enjoyed it and found it really not that different from T20. Yes, there were fireworks, and free tickets, and a DJ, and small children being interviewed on the telly (Q: “What team do you play for?” A: “I don’t know”), and a coaching time-out, and, during the chase, the runs were counting down rather than mounting up. But there was also a white ball, a flat pitch, a small playing area, a reverse sweep or two, many a slower ball, a sense of occasion and a sense of fun. Anyone itching to mutter “it’s not cricket” may well have been disappointed not to be more disappointed.
The contest was decided by a fine counter-attacking partnership (between two players who happen to be a married couple), some brave hitting at the death, and a couple of dropped catches. Cricket is still cricket even if you play it on the beach with one-hand-one-bounce counting as half out. Last night’s game, featuring some of the most talented women in the world, was most definitely cricket. Tonight’s game will be too, with Jos Buttler and Carlos Brathwaite expected to play for the Originals, and Jason Roy joining Tom and Sam Curran among the Invincibles. Covering it may well be a challenge, but watching it is going to be a treat.
Play starts at 6.30pm UK time, so I’ll be back around 6.05 for the toss and teams.
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