Joe McConnell
Northern Superchargers kept their season alive with a 21-run win over London Spirit, despite the rain, in The Hundred at Headingley.
Adil Rashid (3-16) got a three-for, along with good results for his England teammates Reece Topley (2-25) and Matthew Potts (2-18), who both took two wickets apiece as the Spirit were restricted to 111-8.
The England leg-spinner removed Matt Critchley (3), Shimron Hetmyer (5) and Andre Russell (3) in 15 mid-innings balls to leave the visitors on 62-6 after the Superchargers won the toss and brought the Spirit into bat.
Keaton Jennings (30) hit two sixes and three boundaries in his brief 12-ball outing, but was run out by Topley.
Ravi Bopara (31) and Liam Dawson (27no) shared a score of 49 runs to help the visitors reach triple figures, but the former was run out by Potts off the penultimate ball.
The Superchargers’ chase was limited by rain, but their frontrunners Graham Clark (26) and Matt Short (25no) had done enough to ensure they were ahead of Duckworth-Lewis Stern when the match was called off.
Northern Superchargers beat London Spirit by 21 runs in The Hundred
Matt Critchley (1-11) took the Spirit’s only wicket when he dismissed Clark, which brought England’s Ollie Robinson to the crease and he added 13 before the match was abandoned with 56 balls to spare.
It was the Spirit’s seventh loss in eight games in a difficult season.
The Superchargers will now be hoping that Welsh Fire or Manchester Originals can do them a favour in the final two days of the competition’s group stage, as they look to progress to the knockout stages of The Hundred, a notable improvement on their last-place finish in 2023.
Player of the match – Adil Rashid
“We were lucky to get the points in time, because the rain came 10 balls later.
“I think we have a very good team, good hitters, game winners all the time. We’ll have a little bit of a waiting game on Wednesday and Thursday, but hopefully one of those two teams loses and we’ll be fine.
“I put in a good performance, taking three wickets.”
What will happen now?
The Hundred continues on Wednesday, August 14 with another double header Brave of the South assume Welsh Fire AND Trent Rockets to collide with Invincible ovals.
The women’s match will be available to watch on Vscek Main Event and Vscek Cricket from 11pm, the first match at 11.30pm and the men’s match on Vscek Cricket from 2.30pm.
Vscek+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, the NOW streaming service and the Vscek app, giving Vscek customers access to over 50 percent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.
