The Hundred: London Spirit lose opener to Oval Invincibles

Sunil Narine starred with bat and ball as Oval Invincibles won a thriller against City rivals London Spirit by three wickets at Lord’s.

Narine was at his eccentric batting best to pummel 12 runs in three balls from the final set of five bowled by Nathan Ellis, including a six which just cleared the rope as the visitors scrambled to a target of 132 with one delivery to spare.

Earlier Narine had produced his customary wizardry with the ball to return 2-14, after spin twin Nathan Sowter had blown the game open with 3-34.

The pair choked a promising start from Spirit for whom Adam Rossington top-scored with 39 including three big sixes, with the hosts capitulating from 76-2 after 41 balls to 131 all out from the last delivery of their innings.

The rain which washed out the women’s game delayed the start by 25 minutes before Rossington and Essex clubmate Dan Lawrence began with a blaze of boundaries, both clearing the ropes, the former pulling a short one from Tom Curran into the second tier of the stand.

However, once Sowter and Narine entered the fray it sparked a rapid decline. Leg-spinner Sowter bowled Lawrence second ball and made it two in three when Essex batter Michael Pepper hit one straight to Gus Atkinson.

Two further sixes from former Middlesex man Rossington briefly threatened to regain the initiative for the hosts, but Sowter snaffled him too courtesy of the first of two great catches from Jordan Cox.

Narine meanwhile had been suitable frugal and was rewarded for his stump-to-stump bowling as first Daryl Mitchell and then Essex all-rounder Matt Critchley were trapped lbw, the second almost playing no shot, so bamboozled was he.

Thereafter, only Matthew Wade’s restrained 37 provided any resistance, Tom Curran’s 1-20 ensuring there’d be no late rally from Spirit.

With skies darkening again Jason Roy glanced the first ball of Invincibles’ innings for four, but the Surrey man got revenge on the former England opener soon afterwards. And Worrall (2-23), now in the groove then produced an unplayable ball to have Heinrich Klaasen caught at slip by Critchley.

With the dangerous Will Jacks having been removed by Jordan Thompson (2-23) in the meantime, Invincibles were wobbling at 24-3.

Sam Curran’s response was to launch a counterattack with a flurry of boundaries adding 47 with Cox before the latter departed to a diving catch by Rossington off Nathan Ellis.

Curran fell lbw to Critchley for 34 with 39 still needed and Spirit were still in it when Ellis castled Tom Curran.

Sam Billings hit a six into the hospitality boxes but holed out to Pepper and when Wade miraculous parried a ball on the boundary back into play turning a six into just two Spirit looked favourites, but Narine had the final word in a breathless finish. 

Narine said: “When you have exciting games like this it makes the tournament even bigger. More people watch it and will be interested because it is close, so I think it is good for the game and good for us as a team. 

“I was just trying to keep as calm as possible at the end. The calmer you are you might be able to think a bit smarter, so you just try and connect the ball onto the bat because if you do that you never know what can happen. 

“The over Sowts bowled when he got two wickets opened up the game and allowed other bowlers to come in with a little less pressure and taking wickets in the middle of an innings you can break the back of a team.”

London Spirit’s Matthew Wade added: “It’s a great advert for The Hundred, an entertaining game. The bowlers did a terrific job to keep us in the game. We probably didn’t cash in at the end with the bat, so disappointing.

We lost some wickets at bad times which stalled us a little bit. It would have been nice to get a few more over the ropes at the end. A couple more boundaries and we win that game. 

“Sunil Narine is a terrific bowler. They bowled really well and fielded really well. I felt like I hit a lot of good shots tonight and they found a way to cut them off.

“I thought when I saved that six it might be enough. When I threw it back in I thought I was going to run Sunil out at the non-striker’s end which would have made it even better. It kept us in the game and I don’t think Nathan (Ellis) bowled any bad balls in that last set, Sunil just executed with the bat and that’s the game.”