Eoin Morgan slammed 47 from 29 balls and Jason Roy's batting woes continued with a golden duck before London Spirit edged Oval Invincibles by three runs in a Hundred thriller after quelling a formidable fightback...
Story of the match
Morgan quit as England white-ball captain in late June with his final two innings for the national side successive ducks against the Netherlands in one-day international cricket earlier that month.
But the Spirit skipper rediscovered his form at The Kia Oval, striking three sixes and five fours before being caught in the deep off Reece Topley as his side racked up 171-6 from their 100 balls, an innings in which Zak Crawley fired four fours in an 11-ball 21 up top.
The Hundred: Oval Invincibles vs London Spirit - score summary
London Spirit 171-6 off 100 balls - Morgan (47 off 29), Lawrence (27 off 20); Narine (2-25 off 20), Topley (1-26 from 20)
Oval Invincibles 168-7 from 100 balls - Cartwright (42 from 23), Cox (39 off 30), Briggs (29no off 11); Ellis (3-28 from 20)
Invincibles opener Roy lasted just one ball, edging Nathan Ellis (3-28 off 20) to short third man as he took his T20I struggles with England - the 32-year-old managing just 76 runs across six innings in that format this summer - into The Hundred, but his side made a tremendous fist of the run chase after initially slipping to 12-4 in 17 balls.
Boundaries from Hilton Cartwright (42 off 23), Jordan Cox (39 off 30), Tom Curran (27 off 15), Danny Briggs (29no off 11) and Sunil Narine (9no off 7) kept Invincibles afloat in a chase they at various stages looked out of, including when they needed 48 from the final 15 deliveries.
The requirement was just nine from three balls after Briggs began the final set of five with back-to-back fours off Jordan Thompson - only for Thompson (2-31 from 20 balls) to then hold his nerve at the death.Invincibles' sloppiness with the ball ultimately cost them - they conceded 22 runs from the final 10 deliveries bowled and shipped 14 extras all told as Spirit carded their highest score in the tournament.
Spirit finished bottom of the standings in 2021 with just one win from eight but began this campaign with victory - just - under new head coach Trevor Bayliss, who took over following Shane Warne's passing earlier this year.
Spirit finished bottom of the standings in 2021 with just one win from eight but began this campaign with victory - just - under new head coach Trevor Bayliss, who took over following Shane Warne's passing earlier this year.
London Spirit captain Eoin Morgan: "I love playing in games like that. You get to find out more about how good guys are coping under pressure. Anyone can bowl yorkers or hit sixes when there is no pressure. It felt as close to an international game as I have ever felt in the domestic arena, apart from the IPL in India."
Oval Invincibles skipper Sam Billings: "Credit has to go to our guys down the order. We played terribly, let's be honest, for most of that but those guys showed real character to take it that deep.
"I think it's just down to a bit of rustiness. It's hard to recover from 12-4 so to take it down to the last ball is a brilliant effort. Hopefully we can fire next game and that's our bad day out the way. The crowd was amazing. This place is as good a place as anywhere in the world to play cricket."
Invincibles star Danny Briggs: "It was one of those games where we could have lost by a long way. We got it close and it was frustrating, but everyone will be better for that game. The crowd were really up, too, which was great. We just need to learn. Bowling-wise we weren't far away but they probably got 10 runs too many potentially. With the bat, we have some serious strikers in that dressing-room and we'll come back strong."
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