So it’s the Oval Invincibles in the women’s comp, and Southern Brave in the men’s. The Oval team is down on the field now as well, taking their photos and enjoying a more leisurely moment than they had between matches earlier.
The Hundred has happened. It didn’t get rained out, it didn’t get virused out. Matches were held and people came. It was, in the end, cricket. The questions over whether it needed to happen in this form were never really answered. But the arguments over whether it should have happened have not stopped it happening, and it was in many measures a success. Make of all that what you will.
That’s enough from us for one day. Stay metric.
Liam Livingstone is named the Player of the Tournament for the men. Dane van Niekerk is Player of the Tournament for the women.
James Vince has a chat, does the formalities, and then is allowed to get up onto the stage with his team to receive the trophy. Green lights are burning all around. Tymal Mills hoists the big H above his head, then hands it around the group. George Lintott is having a good time. Everyone gets a go at lifting up the trophy, while smoke machines pump out visible vapour.
Southern Brave win The Hundred men's title
There it is. The club lost the women’s final earlier today, but will take home a big H trophy for the men. They had what you need in this format: several contributors with the bat. Stirling, Davies, David and the turbocharge at the end from Whiteley got them to a big score.
Then it was over to a very good, varied, disciplined bowling attack to defend 169. Three left-armers, high pace and slower balls, wrist spin, lots of tricks in the bag.
And more than anything, the game turned on that run out. Birmingham were in the game while Livingstone was out there, but his strangely switched-off piece of work between the wickets ended his pyrotechnic display.
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100 balls: Birmingham Phoenix 136-5 (Benjamin 23, Howell 20) All a bit meandering in the final over, but Jordan at least is still has the good grace to look annoyed: Benny Howell slices away four off an outside edge, then opens the face and drives nicely through backward point for another, and finishes the innings with a third through cover.
95 balls: Birmingham Phoenix 123-5 (Benjamin 22, Howell 8) Fifty in 10 balls isn’t going to happen. Mills makes mathematically sure of it with a dot ball, a top-edged two, and a scooped single.
90 balls: Birmingham Phoenix 119-5 (Benjamin 20, Howell 7) Chris Jordan to bowl, and his plan is to bowl right-arm around the wicket, angled sharply across the right-handers and make it too hard for them to reach. He’s good enough to do it, too. The match is petering out.
85 balls: Birmingham Phoenix 116-5 (Benjamin 19, Howell 5) Tymal Mills, doing what he does. One ball at 90 miles, the next at 70. Zero runs scored as Howell can’t lay bat on him. Finally gets off strike from the third ball. Benjamin wants to score. And gets a shorter ball coming through at 92 miles an hour! Right through the batsman. No contact. So Benjamin shapes for the reverse lap shot next ball, planning to use the bowler’s pace. But Mills bowls at 69 miles an hour that time, and the shot just limps to the wicketkeeper.
Five balls, one run. Applause.
80 balls: Birmingham Phoenix 115-5 (Benjamin 19, Howell 4) There’s six for Benjamin! Drops to one knee against Overton and slams what is almost a kneeling pull shot over the fence. Then steps over and scoops four more, over short fine. The Rishabh Pant style rolling scoop. Then gets a high full toss that he could put anywhere, if he had a stable base. Instead he was already thinking about moving laterally, and so can only pull it off the top edge over mid on for two.
54 in 20 is the equation.
75 balls: Birmingham Phoenix 103-5 (Benjamin 7, Howell 4) The pressure has eased on Jordan, who is hitting a full length and keeping things very quiet. Singles are A-OK. No matter how hard Howell swings, he’s not getting anything but.
70 balls: Birmingham Phoenix 98-5 (Benjamin 5, Howell 1) Lintott does really well after the wicket, too, diving full length across the pitch to save runs with his outstretched left hand. His work wraps up for the day: 1 for 30 from 20 balls. You’d take that, in this format.
71 from 30 needed. Livingstone and Moeen could do it. Howell and Benjamin, less so.
WICKET! Moeen Ali c Overton b Lintott 36, Phoenix 97-5
Has to go for it. Moeen advances to the wrist spinner, hits straight and big, but all height and not long enough. Overton can just shuffle in from long on, and this time keeps his feet so he can use his hands.
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65 balls: Birmingham Phoenix 97-4 (Moeen 36, Benjamin 5) Overton keeps the dry run going. Singles, singles. Even when he bowls a filthy full toss.
72 from 35 required.
60 balls: Birmingham Phoenix 92-4 (Moeen 34, Benjamin 2) Garton to finish his day of bowling, after his good work in the field. In at the hip of Moeen, who picks the gap behind square with his pull shot, splitting the two out there. It carries the rope for six. His third. Garton keeps the rest of the over tidy though.
They need 77 from 40 balls.
55 balls: Birmingham Phoenix 83-4 (Moeen 27, Benjamin 1) There was also a three in that over, by Moeen Ali. Few rarer sights in the Hundred. Courtesy of James Vince diving and tapping back a four.
WICKET! Hammond c Garton b Mills 3, Phoenix 83-4
Another one. Miles Hammond pulls Mills, gets a good piece, into the gap in the deep, but Garton in front of deep square leg runs squarer and lunges to his left for a tumbling, rolling take.
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50 balls: Birmingham Phoenix 79-3 (Moeen 24, Hammond 2) Lintott returns now that the coast is clear. Except it isn’t. Moeen hits him for a straight six instead.
WICKET! Livingstone run out (David) 45, Phoenix 70-3
45 balls: Birmingham Phoenix 53-2 (Moeen 17, Livingstone 31) Chris Jordan to try to find some control for the team in green. But he bowls a wide, then has Livingstone top-edging four past the keeper. Length next, smacked over deep midwicket again. That one goes way into the night sky, so high up that it makes up the required distance even though it wasn’t hit perfectly. A diving attempt to knock it back, out by the boundary rope, doesn’t work. Six.
Drills four straight down the ground, next up. He’s flying. And then...
Livingstone slices two runs out to deep cover. Or it should be two. It’s nearly caught first, but falls short of Overton in the deep. Ricochets off him. David is tracking it back from inside the circle. Grabs the loose ball, turns and throws in one motion.
There’s nothing deliberate about that, but he hits the striker’s stumps direct. A few bounces in towards the keeper and straight into the side of the stumps. Livingstone is cruising back, thinking it’s a comfortable second, and is astonished to see the stumps light up. He’s a few inches short of his ground.
46 off 19, but it ends here.
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40 balls: Birmingham Phoenix 53-2 (Moeen 17, Livingstone 31) Lintott will bowl 10 in a row. Full toss that Moeen slaps untidily to deep cover for one. But Livingstone is getting going. Digs out a yorker straight down the ground for four. Flicks a leg-stump googly fine for four. Then drops and slog-sweeps six over midwicket! Drives a single at the end.
35 balls: Birmingham Phoenix 37-2 (Moeen 16, Livingstone 16) Jake Lintott, the left-arm wristy. A difficult art to master. He got brought into this tournament from local cricket, and now he’s got a Caribbean Premier League deal as well.
He beats Livingstone all ends up! Bowls a googly with real zip off the pitch, and it just beats the outside edge. Livingstone gets a single, and then Moeen Ali is dropped. Or not exactly dropped: slog sweep to deep mid, Overton comes around to catch it, then his foot slips from under him. He falls over, and tries diving forward from on one knee, but can’t reach it.
To salt the wound, Livingstone belts a ball back at Lintott, and hurts him into the bargain. Technically another dropped catch, but Lintott would be more worried about breaking his fingers.
30 balls: Birmingham Phoenix 33-2 (Moeen 15, Livingstone 14) Tymal Mills to bowl. Left arm, fast when he wants to be, slower balls galore. Over the wicket to Livingstone who starts against him gently. Mills gets through his over for five singles, bowling back of a length at the body.
Birmingham need 136 from 70.
25 balls: Birmingham Phoenix 28-2 (Moeen 13, Livingstone 12) Garton bowling his third over to end the Powerplay. Livingstone has a look at one ball, watches a wide, and then hits six into the hospitality boxes! That is massive. Flat and loooooong distance. Some chaps in chinos come spilling out with drinks all over them. You’ve got to stay switched on at the cricket.
Next ball, off the pads and six more! LL, hard as hell.
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20 balls: Birmingham Phoenix 14-2 (Moeen 12, Livingstone 0) The destruction machine is in. Livingstone needs a special one tonight. (No, not Jose Mourinho.)
WICKET! Smeed c Davies b Overton 2, Phoenix 14-2
That’s more like Moeen Ali! A little bit short, and that’s all he needs to pull Overton into the crowd. That looked crisp. Flicks a single to follow.
Another dot ball to Smeed ramps up the pressure on the other half of the partnership, and he follows up by trying to drive a ball over cover that is too short and too close to his body. Strong vibes of hit out or get out to that, and he gets out. Caught in the infield.
15 balls: Birmingham Phoenix 7-1 (Smeed 2, Moeen 5) Garton continues, and so does the drought. Dot and a single to Smeed. Moeen still can’t score. Finds the field, finds fresh air. They’ve got the incredibly destructive Liam Livingstone watching on. Moeen finally gets loose from the 15th ball of the innings, hitting Garton over mid on for four.
10 balls: Birmingham Phoenix 2-1 (Smeed 1, Moeen 1) Fifth ball until Moeen gets a run. This isn’t a format where you can afford a slow start. Craig Overton bowling the second set, and he too is arrowing in at the stumps for Moeen, right-arm over the wicket this time. Smeed gets a leading edge for a run from his second ball. Moeen finally gets a little room outside his off stump but misses his back-foot punch at the ball.
Two singles from ten balls.
5 balls: Birmingham Phoenix 0-1 (Smeed 0, Moeen 0) In at the thigh pad goes the left-armer Garton bowling to the left-handed Moeen Ali. Birmingham’s captain in the middle by the third ball of the match. Not a run to be found.
WICKET! Bedingham c David b Garton 0, Phoenix 0-1
Garton dismissing Bedingham! Full and some width, Bedingham drives, thick edge to backward point. Tim David dropped a catch in the Eliminator yesterday which luckily didn’t cost his team. Tonight he’s taken a screamer diving to his right inches off the ground.
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The chase begins... George Garton bowling to David Bedingham.
Birmingham Phoenix will need 169 to win
That’s a big score from Southern Brave. They didn’t explode out of the blocks, and de Kock was out early, but Stirling started hitting sixes on a steady basis, then upgraded that to a frequent basis. He put some urgency into the innings with his 61 from 36 balls, Alex Davies did a good steady job with 27 from 20, Tim David gave a quick nitro boost with 15 from 6, then Ross Whiteley took it home with 44 from 19. He was seriously good: 4 and 4 for each type of boundary, while Stirling hit six sixes and only two fours.
100 balls: 168-5 (Whiteley 44, Jordan 5) Whiteley just waited for Milne to go away. Then whacks the first ball from Pennington over long off for six. An attractive drive, followed by an ugly hack off an inside edge that beats his leg stump and hit the fence at fine leg.
Third ball, flicked off his pads for six. Clean, economical, it’s like a rental VW Golf. Looks better though, and goes faster.
Hits the fourth down the ground and can’t get back for a second run. Jordan has a free hit from the last ball of the day. Does he get any bat on that? Swivels a 180 trying to pull the ball, which bobbles off his body and back onto his stumps. Or at least, brushes his leg stump. The lights go off, but the bails don’t!
Whiteley has already run through for a single, and Jordan has to stop staring at his pegs and get moving. They pinch that final run. The umpire says leg bye.
95 balls: 150-5 (Whiteley 27, Jordan 5) Chris Jordan can bat, and he takes a couple of twos from Milne, hitting down the ground, keeping it simple. Milne finishes off with a wide slower ball yorker, unhittable. He’s got 2 for 8 from his full allotment of bowling.
WICKET! Davies c Tahir b Milne 27, Brave 145-5
Milne gets his captain the breakthrough. Moeen brings him back earlier than planned to stop the damage, and he does it first ball. Davies tries a little back-cut to rotate strike, sensible stuff against the premier fast bowler, but the pace and bounce is too much. Top edge to short third, for such a routine catch than even Imran Tahir can only muster a couple of fist pumps and roars.
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90 balls: 145-4 (Davies 27, Whiteley 27) Brown gets the ball next, and told to make up for his mistake. It doesn’t work.
Six down the ground as Whiteley lofts. Four more dead straight, along the turf. Turns over the strike, then Davies scoops six more. Looking like a right-handed Eoin Morgan. 18 runs from five balls.
85 balls: 119-4 (Davies 20, Whiteley 16) He’s chipped the goalkeeper from centre back! Benny Howell has bowled four good balls: single, dot, leg bye, dot. From his fifth, Whiteley goes over the leg side. Brown has come in a few paces with the bowler. The ball hangs in the air as he backpedals, then clears his desperate dive back and lands on the rope.
80 balls: 119-4 (Davies 19, Whiteley 10) Nice from Whiteley, inside out over cover from the left-hander against Livingstone’s darts. Livingstone goes even more directly at leg stump from around the wicket, but Whiteley is equal to that and plonks it away through midwicket. Four more.
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75 balls: 110-4 (Davies 19, Whiteley 1) Moeen Ali brings himself on, and he absolutely burgles an over with his off-breaks. Five runs from it.
WICKET! David c Bedingham b Livingstone 15, Brave 103-4
70 balls: 103-4 (Davies 15) Liam Livingstone to bowl some spin, and he buys a wicket. Hasn’t taken note of the previous over, which tells you: don’t bowl short to Tim David. He does, and David smacks him over midwicket for six more. But Livingstone learns now, and bowls his last ball wide of the off stump. David goes for it, a high outside edge that lands with backward point.
15 off 6 is a pretty acceptable innings in The Hundred.
65 balls: 94-3 (Davies 13, David 8) Tim David, the man with two first names, is next up. Doesn’t wait around. Single off his first ball. Sees length for his second, and pulls it for six! Stirling would be proud.
Just saw some forensics on the Stirling dismissal, and Benny got him with the knuckleball. That’s why it seemed so slow and floaty. Because it was.
WICKET! Stirling c Benjamin b Howell 61, Brave 85-3
Benny cools his jets! Bowls wide, a bit dobbly, a bit slow. Stirling has a swish, as you’d expect. Benjamin is keeping up to the stumps, and there’s a scratch of the toe of the bat, or an under edge, that he hangs onto. Stirling goes, but he’s put his team in a great position.
60 balls: 85-2 (Stirling 61, Davies 12) Tahir will carry through to bowl his full ten. If that was a pre-game plan, perhaps it should have been reconsidered, because Stirling just does the same thing again. That uncomplicated pick-up across the line for his sixth six.
Half century! Stirling 52 from 31 balls
55 balls: 75-2 (Stirling 53, Davies 10) They’re rare in this format, but Stirling picks up Tahir and whacks him over deep midwicket for six more, and raises his milestone.
50 balls: 65-2 (Stirling 45, Davies 8) Brown bowls the slow one again, Stirling waits for it this time and dabs a run. Davies gives him the strike back, and Brown can’t bowl the width to Stirling that he’s got away with to Davies. Slashes through the cut shot and it’s four just behind point.
Next ball, same again, four more! They’ve got a deep cover point out there, and on neither occasion has he been able to make up the 10 paces or so to his left to stop the ball. Stirling follows it up with a checked drive, smartly places between that deep point and long off, meaning he can get back for two.
At the halfway mark, things are going well for Southern Brave.
45 balls: 54-2 (Stirling 35, Davies 7) Stirling hasn’t hit a six in about ten minutes, he must be feeling faint.
No wait. There he goes. Length from Benny Howell, flat-batted over the leg side by Stirling. Simple execution. Then he drives to cover, making Moeen Ali dive to keep the scoring to one.
40 balls: 45-2 (Stirling 27, Davies 6) Patrick Brown to bowl, right-arm in the low 80s mph. Dries up Davies outside the off stump with a couple, then waters him with a leg-stump half volley to be clipped for four. Drops short and wide again and is rescued by deep point. Mixes in the slower ball, down to 65 mph, and Stirling toes it to cover for one.
35 balls: 38-2 (Stirling 25, Davies 1) Another good shot from Stirling, opening the face and driving over extra cover, but long off is set very wide and gets across to keep the scoring to two.
WICKET! Vince b Tahir 4, Brave 35-2
Tahir is off! He’s off and running, as he always does. Out the Grace gate and down the street to catch a bus. Nearly gets Stirling first ball of the over, lumped to deep midwicket on the bounce, then gets Vince with the next. Lovely bowling, looped up but pitching full, beating the sweep, and I think that was the googly, turning back onto middle stump from the line of off.
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30 balls: 34-1 (Stirling 22, Vince 4) Benny Howell on to bowl his variations, and Stirling says “You’re not Adam Milne.” First ball, six. Goes for the blockhole but hits the half volley. Stirling plays a golf shot into the stand at deep mid. A couple of singles follow, then good fielding again denies Stirling, this time at backward point. He goes that way again with a delicate little dab for one, so out of keeping with his usual style. That’s like seeing Shrek do needlepoint. Lovely.
25 balls: 25-1 (Stirling 14, Vince 3) Stirling can’t lay bat on Milne, though. Another short ball that races through the Irishman, past his ribcage as he steps across. Milne notices the dancing feet and fires in the next ball at the base of middle, and Stirling has to revert to defence. Then slices a drive to cover point and it gets stopped. That’s three runs from 15 balls for Milne, he’s sparkling. The fielding restrictions come to an end.
20 balls: 24-1 (Stirling 14, Vince 2) Imran Tahir, into the action in the Powerplay. That doesn’t scare this leg-spinner. He bowled the very first over of the 2019 World Cup, and got Jonny Bairstow out at The Oval. Doesn’t mind having the field up. He’s fizzing down his top-spinners as he always does, one into the pad of Vince, another that nearly sneaks under Stirling’s diagonal bat across the line. Three runs from the first four balls, but Stirling will not be held. The fifth, he clears his front leg and plays the one-knee slog sweep over long on. Because he’s Paul Stirling.
15 balls: 15-1 (Stirling 7, Vince 0) Up into the 90s for miles per hour at times is Milne. Going between about 89 and 93 so far. Vince hangs his bat out, nothing, then aims a big drive, nothing. Moeen Ali has a slip in place, in case of the classic Vince edge. But no.
Milne, two runs from 10 balls.
WICKET! de Kock c Pennington b Milne 7, Brave 15-1
Tries the scoop shot again... to a bouncer. That’s ambition. Short and sharp from Milne, not head height but up around the sternum, and Quinton is already getting set for the scoop, bringing his bat around to face forward. Decides to go through with the shot and hope for the best, rather than bailing and risking a dot ball, and it only goes high to short fine leg.
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10 balls: 15-0 (de Kock 7, Stirling 7) First ball from Pennington, sensational by de Kock! Steps across outside his off stump, the left-hander, and scoops the ball over fine leg for six. Into the rope on the full. He was on the move as he played that, terrific hand-eye. Gets a leg bye to get Stirling onto strike, and there is six more. Stirling leans back, the ball is only marginally back of a length, but he tee-balls it into the Mound Stand up by the digital scoreboard.
5 balls: 2-0 (de Kock 1, Stirling 1) Second ball dug off the pads by de Kock for one, bringing the Grand Old Man of Ireland onto strike: Paul Stirling. Played for years here at Lord’s for Middlesex. He aims a big back-foot cover drive at Milne, ambitious first ball, and misses. Steps across into a short ball and gloves it away square for one, missing a pull. Sharp bumper. QDK gets squared up for a fat outside edge that goes quickly along the ground to point. Very fast opening salvo from Milne.
NZ fast bowler Adam Milne to start things off to South African keeper Quinton de Kock.
Teams
Southern Brave
Paul Stirling
Quinton de Kock +
James Vince *
Alex Davies
Ross Whiteley
Tim David
George Garton
Chris Jordan
Craig Overton
Tymal Mills
Jake Lintott
Birmingham Phoenix
David Bedingham
Will Smeed
Liam Livingstone
Moeen Ali *
Miles Hammond
Chris Benjamin +
Benny Howell
Adam Milne
Dillon Pennington
Patrick Brown
Imran Tahir
Birmingham Phoenix win the toss and bowl
Southern Brave will be batting first in the men’s final.
About 45 minutes until the men’s game, when the Southern Brave men’s team will try to get something back out of today.
The Oval Invincibles get up on the podium and are handed the trophy. It’s not the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen (picture a giant gold-plated letter H if you’ve not seen it) but van Niekerk is just about overcome when she gives her winning speech. Now they get to bask in the afterglow.
Let us take a moment to celebrate Marizanne Kapp. Known for her bowling, but did it all.
In the Eliminator, she top scored with 37 at a run a ball to get them a score, then took 3 for 21 to defend it. All of those wickets were in the top four.
Today, she top scored again, equal with van Niekerk’s 26 runs. But did a different job. DVN was battling with 26 from 29. Kapp came in and gave her team a surge, 26 from 14. That got them going towards a decent score.
And coming out with the ball, two wickets in the first 10 deliveries, three in the first 15, each of the other team’s top three for nought. Then coming back right at the end to seal it off, the winning wicket which she can replay time and again. Only 18 deliveries bowled, taking 4 for 9.
The Oval Invincibles are the first Hundred champions
The team in mint green have stayed fresh. This wasn’t just about today, it was yesterday as well. In the Eliminator, they batted poorly and looked well below par with 114 on the board. But they defended those runs with ferocity, with the ball and in the field. Scrapped their way through to this final.
And today, did it again. But better. A slightly higher score, 126. And more of a surge with the ball, a devastating start that really left the Brave no chance to come back. The Brave had been so good through the league stage, winning 7 out of 8 games. But in the sudden-death stage, when it mattered most, they fell apart. Three ducks at the top of the order. Another in the top seven, along with scores of 7 and 1. Only Stafanie Taylor out of those seven made double figures, 18 today. She’s been the only one standing among too many frail batting performances in her career with West Indies.
The Oval team do a lap of honour at Lord’s, a very good crowd coming down to the railings to applaud their work.
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WICKET! Bell b Kapp 4, Brave all out 73
98 balls: Southern Brave 73 all out (Rudd 7) Kapp bowls full, looking for the stumps, but Lauren Bell makes room and digs out the ball with a scything shot through cover for four. Kapp comes back and bounces her! At the body, through the batter’s tangle of flailing limbs trying to pull out of the way. And of course, Kapp comes back with a perfect yorker on leg stump.
Bowled!
(Bell was trying to cover drive that, but was trying it from about four metres outside her leg stump.)
95 balls: Southern Brave 69-9 (Rudd 7, Bell 0) Rudd bangs a couple of shots into the deep, because why not, before Bell sees out the last couple of balls for Farrant. No wickets for Tash today, but 12 runs from 20 balls is a good day’s work. Marizanne Kapp will bowl the last five balls.
90 balls: Southern Brave 64-9 (Rudd 2, Bell 0) Ten balls to go, the last pair at the crease.
WICKET! Morris run out (Gibbs) 23, Brave 63-9
A curious run out. Carla Rudd hits the ball nicely, straight. Gibbs down the ground throws flat and straight to the stumps. Dane van Niekerk takes the ball in one hand and immediately bangs her arm back into the stumps. Morris has her bat over the line, but it bounced just before the line and hasn’t got back down in time. So if she had grounded it behind the line and it bounced, she would be ok, but having bounced it before the line, she’s out.
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WICKET! Norris b Capsey 11, Brave 62-8
85 balls: Southern Brave 62-8 (Morris 23) Capsey with the ball, really just doing the formalities at this point. She’s still invested enough to worry about her field settings. Morris is fired up enough to walk down and drive crisply through the covers for four. The bottom hand takes over next ball and she drags it to long on for one. Norris tries the reverse sweep from the fifth ball, but it’s too full: it hasn’t quite pitched by the time it reaches the bat, and she doesn’t get forward to it, she stands in her crease to play the shot. Under the bat, into off stump.
80 balls: Southern Brave 56-7 (Morris 18, Norris 10) No slip for her own bowling, van Niekerk, so she doesn’t get the reward when she gets a wrong ‘un to turn away from the left-handed Norris, taking an outside edge for two. Norris, easing into her work, steps down and drives straight, not hitting too hard, over the bowler for four. Then goes back and pulls to long on, a top edge that doesn’t carry for a catch. 66 off 20 balls needed.
75 balls: Southern Brave 48-7 (Morris 17, Norris 3) A few singles from Farrant’s over, but it’s not a day for the Brave. Even when Farrant bowls a high full toss, Morris has already shaped for the reverse, and thus can’t get any power on it. In her normal stance that could have gone over the square leg fence.
70 balls: Southern Brave 45-7 (Morris 16, Norris 1) Ismail to bowl her last five, and she scones Tara Norris! That ball is 75 miles per hour, quicker than women players face almost anywhere, and it’s dug in short from around the wicket to the left-hander. She tries to pull but it’s through her, hitting the side of the helmet and off for a leg bye. Fi Morris looks much happier on strike, stepping across and scooping over short fine for four. Good shot.
Ismail hits the pad next ball and goes up for a review, but that was missing leg stump, surely. DRS says it was. Maybe they figure it’ll break up the rhythm for Morris? Frankly she could blaze 50 more from 25 here and it wouldn’t change the result.
65 balls: Southern Brave 40-7 (Morris 12, Norris 1) Morris pulls out the reverse sweep. Nothing left to do but express yourself. Nicely done against Capsey, hit clean and along the ground for four. Then advances and drives four through cover! Even better. Opens the face enough to beat extra cover. Then the reverse again, but hits it too well: finds short third right on the edge of the paint and can’t get a run. Does from the last ball of the five.
60 balls: Southern Brave 31-7 (Morris 3, Norris 1) The rhyming sisters join forces for the Brave. A couple of singles result from van Niekerk.
WICKET! Taylor st Bryce b van Niekerk 18, Brave 29-7
The only one who has had the ability to hang in knows that she also has to hit out. Uses her feet against van Niekerk, who floats it towards leg stump. Taylor has to drag across the line. Might have made contact with a leg-break, but this is a googly. Turns back between bat and pad, and Bryce reads it well enough.
55 balls: Southern Brave 27-6 (Taylor 16, Morris 2) Gorgeous shot, as Taylor walks down to Capsey and threads her drive through cover point, splitting two fielders. Shot of the day, in fact. Then drives a single. With the support of... oh, three or four other players, Taylor might have given this target a shake. Morris goes back and swats a pull to deep midwicket, only one run.
50 balls: Southern Brave 21-6 (Taylor 11, Morris 1) Three near wickets in five balls for Dane van Niekerk. Hits Morris on the pad with a full toss but the umpire says it hit outside the line. Has Morris then driving to mid off, but Gardner drops her second catch for the day. “A duck’s beak!” is what Gardner shouts, for some reason. Dane looks mad. Then there’s nearly a run out, as Morris stutters down the wicket and has to go back after hitting the ball about three metres from the cut strip. She finally gets off the mark, with a pushed single from 11 balls.
45 balls: Southern Brave 19-6 (Taylor 10, Morris 0) Ismail looking as intense as ever, charging in and hitting a tough line just on the off stump. Morris does nothing but defend, after Taylor slices away a boundary behind point and takes a single. Just the 103 from 55 needed.
40 balls: Southern Brave 14-6 (Taylor 5, Morris 0) Capsey continues, sending her little floaters down the pitch, nearly pinching another wicket as Morris dinks one up near midwicket that falls short. No score from the five.
WICKET! Shrubsole c Kapp b Capsey 1, Brave 14-6
Right on cue! Gets some width, scoops a cover drive with a lot of bottom hand, and Kapp can do anything to day. Flies across to her right and takes a great catch. LOOK AT THIS SCORE.
35 balls: Southern Brave 14-5 (Taylor 5, Shrubsole 1) It’s far too much to expect Anya Shrubsole to rescue a match from here, but it’s also worth noting that she’s not a No7. A number of these teams lack batting depth.
30 balls: Southern Brave 11-5 (Taylor 3) That wicket from the last ball of Ismail’s over. Five wickets in less than 30 balls.
WICKET! Wellington c Capsey b Ismail 0, Brave 11-5
Five now, it’s subsiding like a wet souffle. Wellington is more of a basher than a long innings player, and she takes on Ismail’s length ball, trying to baseball it over the leg side. Gets poor contact and the catch sits up for midwicket in the circle.
WICKET! Bouchier run out (Wilson) 3, Brave 4-11
Another onnnnne! Direct hit run out this time, the Ovals are rolling. Taylor guides the ball from Ismail behind point and maybe just runs on instinct, because it feels right off the bat. Because she hits it straight to Wilson, who is stationed quite close to the bat for that shot. Taylor has dropped and run, Bouchier answers the call immediately, and is still barely in the frame when the bails come off.
Updated
25 balls: Southern Brave 11-3 (Taylor 3, Bouchier 7) Kapp street’s back, alright. A couple of singles, a couple of beaten edges. She’s still getting the ball to swerve in the air, away from the right-hander. Ends the Powerplay with the competition leaders having just wheezed into double figures.
20 balls: Southern Brave 8-3 (Taylor 2, Bouchier 5) Inexplicably, van Niekerk hasn’t brought Kapp straight back. Surely you’d give her another over and try ti finish the game now? Well, Farrant nearly does the same: has Bouchier mistiming in the air to cover, but Gardner spills the catch lunging forward.
15 balls: Southern Brave 7-3 (Taylor 2, Bouchier 4) South African to South African, Ismail up next. Starts well but gives away the first boundary of the day, short and wide and slashed over backward point by Bouchier. The Brave have more runs than they’ve lost wickets now, big milestone.
10 balls: Southern Brave 2-3 (Taylor 1, Bouchier 0) Extraordinary from Kapp. She has for so long been the standard bearer for economical bowling in the Big Bash, generally going at around 4 an over in T20 cricket. Here, she has taken 3 wickets for 2 runs off 10 balls to start a final.
WICKET! Lewis c Capsey b Kapp 0, Brave 2-3
Stafanie Taylor to the middle within six balls. First runs for the team off the bat are scored by the No4. Just taps Kapp to deep square leg for one. Which brings Lewis on strike, who opened the batting, and she won’t score either. Tries to pull a ball on the line of her legs, not really short enough, bit cramped. Top edge that flies fine. Capsey at short fine leg motors back towards the rope and claims it. The top three are all out: 0, 0, 0.
WICKET! Dunkley c van Niekerk b Kapp 0, Brave 1-2
Put that down to brilliant captaincy! You won’t often see a slip in the Hundred, let alone two slips. But DVN puts herself in just that spot. Width from Kapp, Dunkley drives at it hard, and the thick edge flies head high to second slip.
5 balls: Southern Brave 1-1 (Lewis 0, Dunkley 0) Only a wide from the first five. Kapp will keep going and bowl ten on the trot.
WICKET! Wyatt c Bryce b Kapp 0, Brave 0-1
Early strike! Wyatt does as Wyatt does, charging a couple of times, looking to blaze pace over the infield in the off side. But Kapp knows what Wyatt does, and keeps the ball wide of her, and finding some swing away. After three fresh air shots, Kapp takes the edge of the bat.
About to start...
“Hello Geoffers,” writes Andrew Benton on the email, using a strange English nomenclatural custom. “I think you might find that 百球 (a hundred balls, which relates it more to the game than does 百元, which means a hundred of anything) would be a better translation into Chinese. Or even perhaps 百球板球比赛 for a not so marketing-friendly name (hundred balls cricket match). Pronunced ‘Bye chyew ban chyew bee sigh’, it rather trips off the tongue.”
I would not be flocking to see the Hundred Balls Cricket Match personally, although... who am I kidding, I would watch it.
Southern Brave must chase 122 to win
A great second half by the Invincibles, who were pootling along at a run a ball until midway through their work, but Kapp got them going, Capsey went with her, and Villiers finished it off. Bell took 2 for 24, Shrubsole 2 for 16, Wellington 1 for 24 and Morris 1 for 30.
WICKET! Villiers c Bouchier b Shrubsole 13, Invincibles 121-6
100 balls: Oval Invincibles 121-6 (Gardner 2) Shrubsole to bowl her final five deliveries, and the last five of the innings. Villiers flicks her through midwicket, mistiming it but the mistiming gets them back for two. Then drives to cover, where there’s a misfield. They think about turning for the second, which makes the fielder throw it in hard at the keeper’s feet. The keeper then fumbles it, and they do start for a second run. Midwicket would probably have run someone out off the ricochet, but fumbles sliding in to pick up! Three misfields in one play, that’s special.
Villiers backs away and nails a lofted square drive next, but the sweeper keeps them to one. Gardner gives the strike back, letting Villiers go large over the leg side. But someone’s there. Bouchier finally wraps her hands around one. Runs saved from the last ball.
95 balls: Oval Invincibles 115-5 (Villiers 8, Gardner 1) Best option for Gardner, get off strike. Does so to finish the Morris over. One to come.
WICKET! Kapp c Wellington b Morris 26, Invincibles 114-5
Did you remember that Kapp was out there? It’s been the Villiers show for a minute. Kapp takes back the spotlight with a strong straight hit down the ground for four, but gets a high outside edge swining at her next ball. Wellington at point waits under it.
90 balls: Oval Invincibles 106-4 (Kapp 18, Villiers 8) Mady Villiers nearly puts Bell on a hat-trick, reaching for a length ball and edging it just by the keeper on the bounce. Keeper standing back. Four lucky runs. Then four deserved ones, as Villiers latches onto a short ball and splits the two outfielders deep on the leg side. Then almost gets caught at mid off, but Lewis diving forward takes it on the short half volley.
WICKET! Capsey b Bell 18, Invincibles 98-4
Her luck runs out this time. Slower ball again, lots of work on it from Bell. Digs it into the pitch. Capsey has charged once more, but the short length means she’s too far away from it to do anything but swipe across the line. The grip in the surface kills the ball’s velocity, getting it beneath the bat, and it’s actually on the way downward by the time it hits the top of middle stump.
85 balls: Oval Invincibles 98-3 (Kapp 18, Capsey 18) Another fingertipper for Bouchier, but this time she did all she could. Capsey skips down to Wellington and mistimes a lofted drive straight. Bouchier comes flying across from mid off and dives sideways but can’t quite. Then nearly a run out as Capsey charges and drives straight to Taylor at cover, but Taylor’s throw misses. So Capsey rides her luck, one more skip, and bangs a drive wide of long on. Ten from the over.
80 balls: Oval Invincibles 88-3 (Kapp 17, Capsey 9) Kapp keeps the good running going, back for a second after sweeping Stafanie Taylor fine. It’s raining again out there, but the umpires are laughing, and probably relieved they’re allowed to stay on in short-form cricket like this. Around the wicket, Taylor, angled across Kapp, but she slog-sweeps anyway for four! Good shot, straightish, just wide of the long on fielder. Kapp has boosted the rate.
75 balls: Oval Invincibles 80-3 (Kapp 10, Capsey 7) Morris bowling her off breaks around the wicket, in at the heels of Kapp. Which works when it works, but when she errs outside that line Kapp sweeps four. A couple of twos in the over, as well, we haven’t seen many of those. Ten runs in total, the best five balls of the day.
70 balls: Oval Invincibles 70-3 (Kapp 3, Capsey 5) Bell bowling a selection of slower balls, one of which brings her the wicket, others concede no score, but her final one slips out of the hand and hovers in the air, and Capsey has time to line it up and smack it back past the bowler for four.
WICKET! van Niekerk c Lewis b Bell 26, Invincibles 64-3
A return to seam brings the wicket. DVN is falling away to the leg side, premeditating hitting in that direction, then gets a different line and tries to power a drive over mid off. No balance means no power, and it just loops up to the infield. Only four fielders allowed out in the women’s game.
65 balls: Oval Invincibles 64-2 (van Niekerk 25, Kapp 1) The South African pair at the crease, then. Singles and nothing more against Wellington, who concedes three runs and takes a wicket in those last five balls.
WICKET! Wilson c Wyatt b Wellington 25, Invincibles 61-2
The three Ws. That’s the danger of Wellington. Her flight draws Wilson into a big slog sweep, her dip has it drop in front of the bat, and the shot is top-edgy out to deep mid. Wyatt is waiting, and the trap snaps shut.
Updated
60 balls: Oval Invincibles 61-1 (van Niekerk 25, Wilson 25) Staf Taylor keeps the pressure up, four runs from her over as she bowls with flight outside off.
55 balls: Oval Invincibles 57-1 (van Niekerk 24, Wilson 23) Norris and Morris the bowling pair. Fi Morris sends down her spin to good effect: concedes four off the first ball to Wilson’s reverse sweep, but comes back to concede only one more run in the set. Almost yorks van Niekerk with the last ball, eliciting a forward defensive, more than halfway through a Hundred innings. Special.
50 balls: Oval Invincibles 52-1 (van Niekerk 24, Wilson 18) Rain falling as Tara Norris comes on with her left-arm pace, and Wilson is dropped. That’s a shocker really. Norris bowls a wide when the ball slips out of her hand, then comes back with a better short ball. Wilson pulls off the top edge to deep backward. Straight to Dunkley. She has time to go down onto her knees waiting for the ball, and it often isn’t a good sign when players do that. And true to form, the catch pops straight out. Wilson follows up by flaying four through backward point.
45 balls: Oval Invincibles 45-1 (van Niekerk 19, Wilson 17) Wellington’s dip is making her hard to hit. Even when she bowls a full toss to van Niekerk, it drops sharply enough that she can only hit it to deep mid for a single. The dip nearly brings Wellington a wicket too, Wilson charging to hit straight down the ground, then ending up having to scoop out a ball that drops short of her. Just, just chips it over mid off for a dodgy run. The Oval team just going at a run a ball.
40 balls: Oval Invincibles 40-1 (van Niekerk 17, Wilson 14) Stafanie Taylor, the West Indies skipper, with her off-breaks. Wilson sweeps a run, van Niekerk flat-bats a couple over cover. Bad misfield by Bell at mid off as DVN hits it straight at her and gives away a single.
35 balls: Oval Invincibles 34-1 (van Niekerk 14, Wilson 12) Morris on for double spin. DVN keeps hitting the outfielders, but Wilson finds a gap at backward point with a deliberately sliced drive for four. She’s very clever with placement.
Updated
30 balls: Oval Invincibles 27-1 (van Niekerk 12, Wilson 7) Fielding restrictions done, Amanda Wellington comes on to bowl her leg-spin. Lots of loop, making them wait. Dots and ones from four of the deliveries, but Wilson gets her sweep away along the ground behind square for four.
25 balls: Oval Invincibles 21-1 (van Niekerk 11, Wilson 2) Nearly three wickets in five balls there. First, van Niekerk just drags Shrubsole over mid off. One run. Wilson swings and misses and nearly loses her stumps. Then pulls off a top edge to fine leg. Should have been caught but Bouchier doesn’t lunge forward far enough, and fingertips it into the ground.
20 balls: Oval Invincibles 16-1 (van Niekerk 9, Wilson 1) That’s better from van Niekerk. Takes guard well down the track to Bell, then drives on the up. Lofted deliberately, over mid off. A couple of balls later, similar but a touch squarer, more like extra cover, and hit a bit flatter into the gap. Dances down after a wide and squirts a thick inside edge through square leg, aiming another off-side drive.
15 balls: Oval Invincibles 6-1 (van Niekerk 0, Wilson 1) Shrubsole doesn’t let the pressure up. Beats Wilson on the outside edge a couple of times, and only gives away a single. Real struggles for the Oval so far.
WICKET! Adams c Wyatt b Shrubsole 4, Invincibles 5-1
Bring me a Shrubbery! Inswing from Shrubsole towards the pads. Adams tries to go high over long on but gets skewed contact on the ball, high towards deep midwicket instead. Danni Wyatt waits under the steepler and makes it safe.
Updated
10 balls: Oval Invincibles 5-0 (Adams 5, van Niekerk 0) Bell will bowl the second five. Back of a length and beating Dane van Niekerk, once, twice. DVN nails a cover drive when the length pitches up, but Shrubsole in the covers saves it. Then van Niekerk charges and gets too far leg side to get any power on a low full toss wide of her off stump. Smokes her fifth ball and it’s saved at point! Again good power in the shot, but snared. Five dots to start a day, not what you want in a game this short.
5 balls: Oval Invincibles 5-0 (Adams 5, van Niekerk 0) Shrubsole starts with the ball, beating the edge a couple of times with her outswing. Eventually Adams charges and swats through midwicket for four. Not much culture in the shot but it gets the result. A ley bye to follow.
Updated
Anya Shrubsole leads her team onto the ground. Won a World Cup final here for England in 2017, so she’ll have good memories. Fireworks go off and wreathe the ground with smoke.
Teams
Oval Invincibles Women
Georgia Adams
Dane van Niekerk *
Fran Wilson
Marizanne Kapp
Alice Capsey
Mady Villiers
Joanne Gardner
Grace Gibbs
Sarah Bryce
Natasha Farrant
Shabnim Ismail
Southern Brave
Gaby Lewis
Danielle Wyatt
Sophia Dunkley
Stafanie Taylor
Maia Bouchier
Amanda Wellington
Anya Shrubsole *
Fi Morris
Tara Norris
Carla Rudd +
Lauren Bell
Southern Brave win the toss and will bowl
Chasing, almost always the preference. Some tiny hints of rain around, but hopefully they push on regardless. Don’t think we need to be too precious about the state of a ball that will be used for 16.4 regular overs.
Get in touch
If I get time during five-ball overs, I’d love to read your emails and tweets. Go on then. Contact details are up top or on the side.
Preamble
The Hundred. El Cien. 百元. Setka. शंभर. Famed throughout lands. Whatever you call it, it comes to a head here today, at Lord’s.
Or tomorrow, if it’s raining.
England!
What do we have for you today? Two matches, four teams, 400 balls of pure short-form focus-grouped entertainment. The Southern Brave, those of the vast white south, have led the standard of the women’s comp throughout. The Oval Invincibles have been decidedly vincible at times, but came good in the Eliminator match yesterday to be the ones doing the eliminating.
Then in the men’s, it will also be the green-clad Brave clan, who won through their own Eliminator yesterday. They will tackle the birds that burn and rise again, the Birmingham Phoenix.
Take my hand, and let us go there together: to Cricket Land.
