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Oval, London: Trent Rockets, both women and men, continue their dominance on the top of their tables in the trip down to the Oval Cricket Ground to crush MI London twice on August 8.
A regal chase effort from Nat Sciver-Brunt and Beth Mooney secured a nine-wicket win, adding to the miseries of MI London W’s horror season, and while the men’s game saw a bit more of competitiveness from the hosts, almost embarrassing fielding errors cost them the game, as Mitchell Santner guided Trent Rockets to a six-wicket victory. The wins have put both Trent Rockets side in an incredible position to become the first ever franchise to win both men’s and women’s titles in the same season of the Hundred.
Hayley Matthews started things strong for MI London with the bat, hoping to finally find form in scoring this season. But following the powerplay, it would be yet another failure for Matthews as she was sent back with an LBW from Samanta Bates. Surrey local Kira Chathli was looking in good rhythm after being shuffled around the batting order this season, and kept the home side on the path for a solid total. Her and the in-form Amelia Kerr looked to send MI London flying but Bates broke the momentum, LBW-ing Chathli and then getting Nicola Carey stumped on the very next ball.
Her hat-trick was unfortunately not completed as despite the umpire Rose Dovey signaling Alice Monaghan LBW on third ball, a review got the decision overturned. Kerr could not also get started, getting caught at extra cover, and a very familiar picture was being painted for MI London with the bat. Luckily Monaghan and Chinelle Henry, who has been a clutch middle order option, salvaged the innings for their side with a 48-run partnership for the sixth wicket, setting a total of 121/5 for the Trent Rockets to chase.
American born Tara Norris provided MI London a dream start, bowling the season’s top scorer thus far, Sophia Dunkley for a duck in the opening five deliveries. The experience of Beth Mooney and Nat Sciver-Brunt kept the Rockets steady, building a solid foundation in the powerplay.
The pair were unshakeable, picking the gaps and storming ahead with little to no resistance. Sciver-Brunt played the spearhead, crossing fifty in 26 balls, finishing her innings on 67* at a strike rate of 186.11. Mooney’s supporting role saw her also complete a half-century as the pair scored 118 between one another, completing the chase for the Rockets with 18 balls and nine wickets remaining, extending their winning run to five, and knocking on the door of Lord’s on August 16.
In the men’s game, Will Jacks did what usually does on his Oval stomping ground, getting MI London chugging onward. Trent Rockets however exploited his quieter partner, Jame Vince, to get the breakthrough. A slog over Tim David at mid-on looked like a certain boundary, but the speed behind the shot wasn’t as much as the height and Australian tracked back till long on to complete a phenomenal one handed diving grab. The fielding remained dialed to 11 as Ben Duckett threw himself inside the circle to stop Jacks’ cover drive, throwing the ball to the striker’s end in one motion, directly hitting the stumps to send back Nicholas Pooran, turning the tide right towards the end of the powerplay.
Captain Sam Curran retained strike for the most part after the powerplay, leading to a come down from Jacks’ explosive start. But after setting in, the other Surrey man began to step up around the halfway point. However, as Curran built momentum, Jacks was losing it and eventually he lost his wicket on 39, a caught-and-bowled by Calvin Harrison.
Fortunately for MI London, Curran was in full swing, getting to his half-century. The skipper then made the decision to retire out his batting partner and fellow Surrey teammate Ollie Pope to bring in T20 darling Sikandar Raza to blitz till the end. The gamble didn’t really pay off, save a couple boundaries, as Raza was caught by Aneurin Donald sprinting from deep third to backward point to take the catch in the final ten. Rockets would end the innings with two more wickets, including Curran’s on the final ball, as he walked back on 76 with MI London on 147/7.
It was a steady sail from the Rockets initially, but Tom Curran’s introduction brought on the opening blow in the dangerous Finn Allen, who was caught behind. Donald did not want the wicket to faze the Rockets’ chase and attacked in the powerplay. Him and Ben Duckett were laying the bricks for a comfortable chase but a brain fade from Donald saw him run out by mere inches, as he was aloof returning to the crease following Rutherford’s field and throw to the stumps.
Richard Gleeson piled more pressure on with the ball, forcing former MI London’s (then Oval Invincibles) multiple title winning skipper and now Rockets captain, Sam Billings to drive the ball back to him for a duck. Gleeson struck again to end Duckett’s frustrating stay with another catch behind for Pooran, taking 2/4 in his first ten balls.
With the batting running thin, responsibility fell on finisher David and New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner. In a rare instance, David played the anchor role as Santner was in the mood for bigger hits. Both batters had some stroke of luck, with both surviving dropped chances, Santner’s more crucially put down by skipper Curran just as the Kiwi began looking settled in.
The third and easiest dropped opportunity came from Rutherford, who dropped and edged a floater above his head at point from David, and Santner baseball swung Gleeson’s full toss on the very next delivery for six, summing up how MI London let their grip loose in the tie.
For the fifth wicket, the Oceanian pair scored 78 runs, seeing through the win for Trent Rockets with 10 balls and six wickets remaining, securing their place in the eliminator round at the very least, with one foot in the final, just as their women’s team.
What they said
Lisa Keightly, MI London W head coach: (Reflecting on the season) “Look, hindsight’s a beautiful thing, isn’t it? And if we could have got over the line in those two games (London Spirit tie and Southern Brave defeat), we might be still in contention, but it is what it is and we’ve had to regroup and try and show a bit of character and compete in a lot of the games.”
“I still feel like we’re doing that as a group and that’s really important for this stage of the competition. If you can upset a few teams with finals and thinking, we’re doing our job. So we’ve got one game to play and we’ll go out and try and win it.”
Nat Sciver-Brunt, Trent Rockets W: “We (Her and Beth Mooney) were walking off there saying that it’s really satisfying to be able to do that, to walk on both not out. Yeah, really happy for Beth, she’s wanted to be a bit more involved with the bat, so I’m really glad she was able to do that today. She trained really well, stuck in there and got the win.”
“I guess part of the reason why we want to bat like that, we want to win as many games as we can, but we’ve seen how tight games can get and a couple of wickets ago and the pressure really piles on, so we want to make it as easy for our side as possible.”
Mitchell Santner, Trent Rockets M: (On Trent Rockets chances of becoming the first team to win a double in the Hundred) “It’s nice to see the girls going so well and the ‘Constructors’ Championship’ (A trophy given to the most successful team in a F1 season), we’ve been calling it.”
“Both groups are gelling really nicely together. You know, it’s pretty clear, you know, the plans and how we want to operate and then away from the game, it’s the same, you know, everyone’s getting around each other, and I think it’s going across onto the field for performances as well.”
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