Tim David's disappointing campaign in The Hundred has ended with one final golden duck as New Zealand blaster Tim Seifert stole the show - and the trophy - for the Justin Langer-coached Manchester Super Giants.
David had been hoping to finally fire for the Trent Rockets in Sunday's (Monday AEST) tournament climax at Lord's but, having amassed only 90 runs in his seven knocks, the Nottingham side's most destructive 'finisher' failed to deliver once more.
He came to the wicket with the Rockets at 3-86, with a decent platform to launch his fireworks. Instead, inspired wrist spinner Noor Ahmad (3-33) induced him into a drive first-ball, only for him to edge behind to Super Giants' captain Jos Buttler.
There were plenty of handier contributions along the way for the Rockets - 38 from 19 balls for Aneurin Donald, 32 from 16 for Lewis Gregory and 31 from 24 for Ben Duckett, but their final tally of 8-158, having been put in by Buttler, always looked vulnerable.
Once Seifert got to work, it was then made to look more of a cakewalk. Melbourne Renegades' popular Kiwi international, who won the player-of-the-tournament award after a stellar month, crashed 72 off 38 balls, with seven sixes, at the top of the order.
By the time his fireworks ended with just 23 needed and seven wickets still standing, not even a late wobble could stop the inevitable, with the ever-reliable Liam Dawson, after a couple of nervy dot balls, smashing a six over cow corner to seal the five-wicket win with a couple of the 100 deliveries remaining.
It was a personal triumph for Buttler, who had taken over the captaincy after Aiden Markham returned to South Africa for personal reasons earlier in the month.
Buttler took the gamble to bowl first even though the last three winners of the men's Hundred final had opted to bat under captain Sam Billings, who was this time in charge of the Rockets and came agonisingly close to winning a fourth-straight title after his spell at the Oval Invincibles.
It was also a delight for the Australian back-room team behind the Old Trafford-based franchise, headed by the Super Giants' global director of cricket Tom Moody and coach Langer, who hailed his players as "ripping blokes."
For Moody, it was a fourth consecutive triumph after he'd won the previous three Hundred crowns with the Invincibles.
"It's a great achievement," he said of his maiden win with Manchester.
"In my position, it's a privilege to be involved. Obviously, the players are the ones that do all the hard work and they've been consistent pretty much throughout the tournament. They deserve the trophy at the end."
