Invincibles fight back to land men

Oval Invincibles staged a remarkable fightback to beat Manchester Originals and win the men’s Hundred at Lord’s.

But Tom Curran and Jimmy Neesham launched a stirring counter-attack and shared an unbroken partnership of 127, the highest for any wicket in the short history of the men’s Hundred.

Curran blasted five sixes in his 67 not out from 34 balls, while Neesham added an unbeaten 57 from 33 to lift the Invincibles to 161-5.

Originals had comfortably chased 197 to beat Southern Brave in the eliminator on Saturday, but this time the dismissal of opener Phil Salt for 25 heralded the fall of four wickets for 17 runs.

The loss of captain Jos Buttler, bowled for 11 swiping at spinner Danny Briggs, was a hammer blow, while Nathan Sowter held a magnificent catch tiptoeing around the boundary to dismiss Laurie Evans.

Max Holden kept faint hopes alive with 37, leaving the Originals needing an unlikely 32 from the final 10 balls.

Tom Curran continued his fine day by conceding only nine from the first five, then brother Sam closed out the game to leave Originals on 147-6 and the Invincibles victors by 14 runs.

This marks a second successive final defeat for the Originals, while Invincibles take the men’s title for the first time, joining Southern Brave women as the champions of 2023.

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Curran and Neesham inspire Invincibles

Invincibles had been the dominant team on the way to topping the group table, but injuries and international call-ups meant they were missing five players that had got them to the final – Jordan Cox, Sunil Narine, Heinrich Klaasen, Adam Zampa and Spencer Johnson.

Briggs was playing his first game of the tournament, Ireland batter Paul Stirling was signed just for the final and New Zealand’s Neesham had played only once before.

And the patched-up team came close to being overwhelmed by the Originals onslaught – the five wickets fell in the space of 36 balls.

The rescue act came through all-rounders Tom Curran and Neesham. For Curran, it is a continuation of some good form with the bat after his summer as a bowler has been limited by a back injury. For Neesham, it is a taste of glory at Lord’s four years on from batting in the super over as New Zealand were agonisingly beaten in the World Cup final by England.

Curran muscled the ball over the leg-side rope and hit one outrageous cut for six off the left-arm pace of Josh Little. Neesham’s only six went in the same direction as his maximum off Jofra Archer in the 2019 super over.

Neesham gave one half-chance on 16, but his miscue evaded the hands of spinner Tom Hartley as he tried to run back and take the catch off his own bowling.

Their century partnership came up in only 49 balls and Curran hit the final ball of the innings, bowled by Zaman Khan, for a mighty straight maximum to surpass the previous best men’s stand of 124 between Dawid Malan and Darcy Short for Trent Rockets against Southern Brave in 2021.

Originals fall short again

Beaten by Trent Rockets in the final 12 months ago, Originals looked to have the momentum this time around thanks to the breathtaking way they pulled off the highest chase in Hundred history against the Brave on Saturday.

Indeed, the way they tore into the Invincibles top order had them on course for a rampant victory.

Richard Gleeson took the inside edge of Jason Roy and persuaded Stirling to hit a full toss to mid-on. Little had Sam Curran edge behind for a golden duck, the Irishman bowling 15 of the 25 balls in the powerplay for figures of 1-7 – four of those runs came from a misfield.

Captain Sam Billings tickled down the leg side off Paul Walter and Will Jacks holed out from the spin of Hartley. Invincibles were in tatters, only for Tom Curran and Neesham to change the complexion of the game. Originals barely recovered.

Salt and Buttler, the tournament’s leading run-scorer, have formed a formidable opening partnership and Salt raced to 25 from 16 balls. However, when he miscued Tom Curran to the running Sam Curran at mid-off, the Invincibles squeezed.

Buttler, starved of the strike, played a frustrated hack at Briggs to depart for 11 from 15 balls, Wayne Madsen was bowled by Sowter before the same man pulled off his superb catch off Evans. Aware of the presence of the boundary, he took the catch, threw the ball up, hopped off the field and back on, then completed the catch all while avoiding the rope.

Holden battled hard, but when he was lbw on review to Sam Curran, Invincibles had the title in the bag.

‘Every game a different person has stood up’ – what they said

Match Hero, Oval Invincibles’ Tom Curran on BBC Two: “Everyone keeps saying that I’ve improved my batting but I don’t see it that way. It’s a compliment and it’s nice to hear. But I have worked very hard on it, yes I came in to Surrey primarily as a bowler but it’s pleasing to show what I can do.

“Jimmy was unbelievable. It was a crucial partnership for us and we really fed off each other out there. He’s a class player and I think the left and right-hand combo helped us out.

“It has been a rollercoaster but I’m so pleased.”

Oval Invincibles all-rounder Sam Curran on BBC Two: “I think at 34-5 it all comes down to Tom [Curran] and Jimmy [Neesham] and the way they played in a pressure situation. Every game, a different person has stood up, and that’s the key to winning trophies.

“I am pleased for Tom, because he’s had a hard season with injury and has been batting brilliantly. I am so happy. I think we are born to play and win trophies.

“The Hundred is going to get bigger and better. To get that trophy is brilliant. The group has been pretty similar and the celebrations tonight are going to be pretty special.”

Oval Invincibles batter Will Jacks on BBC Two: “Buzzing! We worked hard for that. It was a crazy start to this game so to get to this position is still quite hard to believe.

“We’ve won close games before in this competition and that helped us.”