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Lord’s, London: Trent Rockets painfully miss out on their double, as despite crushing Sunrisers Leeds to win the women’s title, the men could not hold off Manchester Super Giants, who won their first ever Hundred title at Lord’s Cricket Ground on Sunday, August 16. It was a cake walk Trent Rockets Women as they restricted Leeds to measly 91, chasing down the target with nearly half the innings remaining, sealing their first ever Women’s Hundred title. The men on the other hand were overwhelmed by Manchester, who chased down the target set by the Rockets with ease courtesy of a Tim Seifert masterclass, achieving their first ever Hundred across both men’s and women’s tournaments.
With the summer heat on its way out and a fresh green wicket at the Home of Cricket, it was a no-brainer to field first for Ash Gardner and the Rockets. The pair of Bryony Smith and Phoebe Litchfield started confidently, with Litchfield even clearing the ropes within the opening ten deliveries. But the expected movement was very much present and it was only a matter of time till it troubled the Sunrisers batters. Australia’s Kim Garth drew first blood, making Smith find a leaning edge as the ball chipped to Nat Sciver-Brunt at cover.
Lauren Winfield-Hill departed in similar fashion to Garth and Charley Phillips similarly used the swing to end Litchfield’s innings on just ten as she agonizingly missed out on scoring the most runs in a single season of the Women’s Hundred, tying at 303 runs with Sciver-Brunt’s 2024 season. Alarms were ringing for Leeds and Annabel Sutherland and Deepti Sharma had no option but to prolong the innings in order to prevent a collapse. A 32 run partnership between the two gave the present ‘orange army’ some hope, but nonetheless it would be false hope.
Phillips bowled a frustrated Deepti who exposed her stumps attempting a slog sweep, and the collapse commenced. Sutherland got stumped, Jess Jonassen ran out and Darcey Carter bowled, and in the blink of an eye, Leeds lost four wickets for just six runs. Dani Gibson played a captain’s innings to get her side past the point of having the worst total in a Hundred final, but her efforts were never going to be enough. She departed for 22 and with nine balls remaining, Sunrisers Leeds were bowled out for 91.
It was going to be a difficult defense, but Sophia Dunkley and Beth Mooney made it impossible from the get go. The English-Australian duo took no prisoners, attacking ruthlessly in the powerplay. They were roughly halfway through the chase in just the powerplay with 45 runs. Yet, even with the spread out field post-powerplay, they showed zero signs of slowing down.
Particularly, Dunkley was on track to practically see out the chase all on her own, but after surviving a couple scares, a misted stroke finally found Jonassen inside the circle to conclude the 69 run opening partnership. Sciver-brunt came in and was LBW by Sutherland shortly after the opening blow. But as she walked back, she chuckled, showcasing how snugly the game was in the bag for the Rockets. Mooney and Gardner saw through the chase with 46 balls remaining, sealing Trent Rockets Women their maiden Hundred title.
Expecting the track to be flatter with more dew, Jos Buttler put Manchester into field first for the men’s final. Ben Duckett played his typical unorthodox game to get the Trent Rockets going in the powerplay. His opening partner, Finn Allen was unusually quiet, and when approaching the fifty run stand, had enough of being the anchor and swung big against Noor Ahmad, only to find the clutches of Leus du Plooy at long off. The wicket signaled a break point for the Rockets, as Ahmad struck again, finding Duckett’s outside edge for a caught behind dismissal for Buttler.
Aneurin Donald carried the torch on from Duckett’s torch but he fell alongside skipper Billings and Tim David in quick succession, bringing the Rockets to 95/5. In a tight spot, Mitch Santner once again dragged the Nottingham outfit from the edge, backed by Lewis Gregory’s thunderous maximums. Crossing 150, the lower order couldn’t follow through from their blitz facing the young Sonny Baker, as Trent Rockets mustered 158/8.
Manchester Super Giants started steadily enough as Tim Seifert and Paul Walter hit the occasional six in the powerplay to daze the Rockets. The combination of Seifert’s T20 prowess and Walter’s slog got the Super Giants 48 in the first quarter of the innings and they didn’t stop there. ‘Big Walter’ finally failed to go big, becoming the first casualty, slogging to deep mid-wicket on 22, ending his Hundred season with 247 runs in just five innings.
Seifert was refusing to slow down, crossing his half-century in just 23 balls. Buttler arrived guns blazing, and departed in similar fashion, mistiming the hit against Calvin Harrison, contributing 23. With the target in sight, Manchester were on the come down, but calling it a come down would still be an exaggeration as Seifert was still clearing the ropes. But Mohammed Amir brought an end to his reign of terror, bowling it tight outside off for him to just about nick it Billings behind the stumps. The Kiwi walked back for an astounding 72 off just 38 deliveries.
Amir locked in, sending back Heinrich Klaasen and Michael Bracewell, taking the game far closer than imagined. Unfortunately the game was too far gone for the Rockets as the dreams for a Hundred double were dashed by Liam Dawson, who finished it off in style to win the first ever Men’s Hundred for the Manchester Super Giants with five wickets and just two balls remaining.
Dani Gibson, Sunrisers Leeds W captain: “I just don’t think we played great. We were unlucky with the first couple of dismissals with the bat, and then I think we just struggled to get a good total on the score, on the scoreboard, and obviously Trent (Rockets) came out of batting really well, took the game on even though they didn’t have many to get, and just took it away from us.”
(On losing the toss) “I think throughout the whole tournament, a lot of teams wanted to bowl first. I think when you know what you’ve got to chase, it helps you set the tempo when you’re batting.”
So we weren’t too fussed about losing the toss today because we obviously set (a good total) against Manchester recently and did a really good job at (defending) that. So I think we were very confident in setting (a total), but it just didn’t go our way today, unfortunately.”
Sam Billings, Trent Rockets M captain: “I thought it was a brilliant effort. I think any time in a final if someone’s getting 70 off 35, 37 balls, it’s a hell of a knock, especially on a wicket like that. I didn’t think it was an absolute belter.”
“I thought we played fantastically well. So, for the boys to fight and take it all the way down to the last set, I thought it was a brilliant effort and probably shows the character in this team, actually. I thought we’d been brilliant all year, obviously through the league phase, winning six out of eight.”
“Yeah, it was a great effort. So, yeah, I can only be proud of the team. This is why we love and hate the game, because it’s close games like that. Fine margins in finals, that’s the difference.”
(On Trent Rockets’ identity) “Nottingham is a sport-loving city. It’s a sport-loving region. So, yeah, it’s been an absolute honor.”
“I think Trent Bridge and the support we’ve had at Trent Bridge, it’s one of those grounds where the support and the fans feel right on top of you. So, the energy you get from that and you know it’s a pretty partisan crowd, it’s been a pleasure to play for the club. And like I said, hopefully, we’ve done a lot of good things this year, losing out in the final.”
“Yeah, you have to take the good days and the bad days. And you’d much rather be in a final than not be in a final. So, I can only be very proud of the lads.”
Jos Buttler, Manchester Super Giants M captain: (On Paul Walter’s late introduction) “Guy waited for his chance, but he’s well known to Manchester and he’s done really well in the Hundred for Manchester before. So, he obviously had a great season with Essex at the top of the order, offered with the ball. He’s a great character to have in the team as well and his performances, he and Seif (Tim Seifert) were awesome at the top and they went a long way to us winning, obviously, the tournament and winning the game today.”
(On the new look Hundred) “Certainly from a player’s point of view, it’s felt like a bigger and better competition. Obviously, with outside investment, four overseas players. It feels decentralized, obviously, from the ECB. So, each team is very much individual and invested in it and determined to grow to the standard of the cricket. It’s been incredible, I think and, yeah, I think to win a Lord’s final tonight, 27,000 in the house, it’s a pretty good tournament.”
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