Oval Invincibles (OVI) pipped London Spirit (LNS) by two wickets to keep their playoffs hope alive in the Hundred. An unbeaten 67 from Laurie Evans and a 26-ball 44 from Will Jacks helped Oval Invincibles chase down 146 with five balls to spare. Overseas spinner Tabraiz Shamsi grabbed a three-wicket haul, while Tom Curran picked up two wickets.
London Spirit won the toss and put themselves into bat. David Wiese and Joe Denly found a place in the London Spirit’s playing eleven, replacing Mohammad Nabi and Luis Reece. The home side fielded the same squad that beat Trent Rockets by nine runs.
Adam Rossington and Denly, London Spirit’s fourth different opening pair in six games, made a fine start. The duo added 35 runs at the end of the powerplay. Rossington, who smacked a six off Saqib Mahmood, departed for 28 in Sunil Narine’s second set of five. The scorecard read 50/1 after 40 balls.
The new man Josh Inglis lasted five balls as Shamsi trapped him in front of the wicket. However, Eoin Morgan put Oval Invincibles attack to the sword. The London Spirit’s skipper hit a six in Jacks’ opening set and Mahmood’s third set of five. He continued to dictate terms to the bowlers. Curran, too, was at the receiving end of Morgan’s wrath. London Spirit moved to 99/2 in 70 balls.
The England white-ball captain hammered consecutive sixes off Shamsi. But he departed while trying to hit a hat-trick of sixes. Mahmood took the catch to dismiss Morgan for 41. The Proteas spinner cleaned up Ravi Bopara in the very next ball to finish with figures of 3/25. Wickets continue to fall as Joe Cracknell holed out to substitute Jordan Cox.
Denly and Wiese went back to the pavilion in the space of a few balls. The visitors were 126/7 after 90 balls. Three fours in the final six deliveries from Roelof van der Merwe drove them to 146/7 in their allocated balls.
After his exploits with the bat, van der Merwe put Oval Invincibles in a spot of bother early in the run-chase. He removed Jason Roy and Narine in his opening set of five. Roy skied the ball to Cracknell, while Denly took an excellent catch near the boundary line to dismiss the West Indies all-rounder. They were in further trouble when Wheal picked up the wicket of Colin Ingram in his second ball.
Opener Jacks struck four boundaries in five balls and hammered a six off Blake Cullen’s second set of five. However, Mason Crane claimed the wicket of Sam Billings, who gave a simple catch to Bopara. Oval Invincibles were 54/4, needing another 93 from 60 balls. Evans joined Jacks at the crease.
Two sixes and a four by Evans in van der Merwe’s third set of five swung the match in the Oval Invincibles’ way. They managed to maintain the scoring rate and put the pressure back on London Spirit bowlers. Bopara broke the 57-run stand in the 70th ball, but Oval Invincibles’ was in control of the run-chase.
Evans brought up his half-century with a boundary, and the hosts needed 25 off 23 balls. The 33-year-old kept his cool to hit the winning runs in the 95th delivery despite losing three more wickets. It went down to the wire, but Evans came to the rescue of Oval Invincibles and kept them in the hunt for playoffs.
LNS 146/7 in 100 balls (E Morgan 41; T Shamsi 3/25, T Curran 2/33)
OVI 147/8 in 95 balls (L Evans 67*, W Jacks 44; B Wheal 2/23)
Player of the Match
For the second time in the tournament, Evans scored the winning runs for Oval Invincibles. He didn’t take time to settle and found his rhythm quickly. Van der Merwe was taken to the cleaners, while Cullen, too, couldn’t stop Evans from taking the game away from London Spirit. The Surrey batter ensured that his side won all their matches at home.
Top Fantasy XI
L Evans (91 pts), T Shamsi (79 pts), R van Merwe (71 pts), T Curran (63 pts), J Denly (58 pts), E Morgan (56 pts), B Wheal (56 pts), W Jacks (56 pts), M Crane (39 pts), A Rossington (37 pts), S Narine (36 pts)
Parameswaran Sankaranarayanan
Parameswaran Sankaranarayan is a sports enthusiast who has worked in print, website, and other digital platforms. He was part of the editorial team of first-ever Indian football-based website - IndianFootball.com (now defunct) - and passionately follows the latest happenings in world football. During his time as a journalist, he had the opportunity to interact with some of the iconic personalities in Indian sports and witness some memorable moments in Indian football.
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