Sam Billings’ Oval Invincibles have retained their Hundred title after beating the Southern Brave in the final of the competition at Lord’s on Sunday. A sensational moment of reverse swing from paceman Saqib Mahmood helped the Invincibles defend 147 as they restricted the Brave to 130/7 in the 100-ball contest.
Invincibles were undoubtedly the best team this season and have now matched the achievements of their female counterparts. The Oval Invincibles women’s team had won back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022 and the men’s team have now continued this brilliance with their own titles in 2023 and 2024.
In addition, captain Sam Billings has become the first captain in the tournament’s history to lift two titles. He had also led the Invincibles to the crown in 2023.
Speaking about the match, Brave won the toss and asked the defending champions to bat first. Will Jacks provided the initial impetus with his 37 off 22 balls before contributions from Sam Curran (25 off 20), Jordan Cox (25 off 17) and Tom Curran (24 off 11) came to take the Invincibles to 147 and ask the Brave to post the highest chase at Lord’s in the competition.
Brave openers Alex Davies and captain James Vince were marching towards the target with a 58-run stand, but Adam Zampa He came and dismantled the previous one with a googly in his second game of five.
After an impressive outing with the bat, Jacks removed tournament leading scorer and captain Vince for 24 before leg spinner Nathan Sowter struck to remove James Coles.
Brave, though, had things under control with 53 needed off the last 30 balls and with seven wickets in hand. But Mahmood came on and hit three wickets in his seven balls to put the defenders on the front foot. He removed Leus du Plooy with a delivery that looked late, before pinning Kieron Pollard for a duck and then putting Laurie Evans at cover.
Zampa struck again, cleaning up Chris Jordan and despite Craig Overton’s 22 in 11 balls, Brave stayed within 17 and the Invincibles had the title in their hands, again.
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