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Southern Brave overwhelmed after fifties from Allen, Vince and Conway lead them to 196 for 1

Alan Gardner26-Aug-2023Manchester Originals ransacked their way to the highest successful run-chase in the men’s Hundred on a night of boundary-fuelled belligerence at the Kia Oval, sweeping past a seemingly intimidating target set by Southern Brave with seven wickets and four balls to spare. Jos Buttler was at his imperious best, striking 82 off 46, and although he wasn’t there at the end, victory was sealed in fitting style as Jamie Overton crashed Chris Jordan high over long-off.Brave looked to have shrugged off the disadvantage of losing the toss and being inserted, following a delay for mopping-up after rain washed out the women’s eliminator, becoming the first side to record three individual half-centuries in a 100-ball innings. Finn Allen set the initial tempo with 69 off 38, before James Vince added a 24-ball fifty during the closing stages; Devon Conway was neat and tidy in between times to anchor the innings with an unbeaten 51 off 38.But as Originals set about their chase in ruthless fashion, it immediately called into question whether Brave had spent their batting resources wisely. Phil Salt’s first three balls all went to the boundary – albeit two of them were thick edges between slip and gully – as he hammered five fours and two sixes from 14 powerplay deliveries, Originals posting 61 without loss.The scoring rate only went up with the fielding restrictions off. Buttler, whose one miscue came from his second ball when he just cleared cover running back, hammered Craig Overton for his first six down the ground before Salt drilled two more brutal hits in a set costing 21. Salt fell to his next ball to depart for an incendiary 47 off 17, Vince roaring in celebration after scooping a low catch in the covers as Mitchell Santner’s introduction paid off – but Buttler kept the pressure on by hitting Santner into the crowd before new batter Max Holden carved and scooped George Garton for sixes from his fourth and seventh balls.Originals had raced to 100 from 41 balls, equalling their own record from the 2022 edition, and they were 115 for 1 at halfway. The carnage continued for Brave’s seamers as Jordan was struck for 17 in the next set, Buttler bringing up a 26-ball half-century, and the Originals captain took back-to-back boundaries off Tymal Mills before the competition’s leading wicket-taker ended Holden’s cameo with a slower delivery.Buttler’s calculated assault continued as he crashed Rehan Ahmed for two more sixes during a run of ten consecutive balls from the teenaged legspinner, at the end of which Originals needed 26 from 20. The requirement was down to 17 when Buttler finally top-edged one into the night sky to be held by the scrambling Rehan and Laurie Evans’ emphatic blow into the crowd off Mills kept Originals on course.Buttler, England’s white-ball captain, has been a vocal backer of the tournament in recent days and extended his lead at the top of the run-scoring charts. This has been his first full season of involvement and he will now lead Originals out at Lord’s against Oval Invincibles on Sunday, looking to go one better than the side did in his absence last year.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Following the abandonment of the early game, and with the threat of more rain interrupting proceedings in south London, Buttler had no hesitation asking Brave to set a target. He admitted afterwards to being a “bit disappointed” with his side’s effort with the ball – which included conceding 20 extras – but added: “Once we got that momentum it was hard to stop us.”There was swing and seam movement for the Originals new-ball pair of Richard Gleeson and Josh Little, but although the Brave openers only managed four scoring shots in the first 15 balls, they still had 24 on the board through a combination of leg byes and wides – which had increased to 37 without loss after the powerplay.Allen’s first boundary came off a thick edge over slip, and he then needed assessing by the physio after playing a rolling ramp shot straight into the grille of his helmet. He launched Little for a sweetly struck six over deep midwicket, while Conway got going by chipping his fourth ball over cover for four, but there were few other examples of timing during a scratchy start.After back-to-back boundaries in the eighth set, Allen then took Calvin Harrison for four and six, followed by another straight smash over the ropes off Zaman Khan to bring up a 31-ball half-century and put Brave on the front foot at the halfway stage of their innings on 84 for none. Harrison was again targeted in the 12th, as both Allen and Conway cleared the ropes in a set that cost 20. But two balls after hammering Paul Walter over long-on for his fifth six, bringing up a record opening stand for the competition, Allen was finally removed attempting to reverse-scoop and feathering a catch behind.That was to be Originals’ only breakthrough with the ball, but they nevertheless managed to keep on top of the scoring. Vince also made a slow start, eking out six runs from his first ten balls, but a flicked six off Zaman seemed to bring him to life. Off his next 12 balls, Brave’s captain smoked 40 runs, with Originals paying the price for missing the cut-off and only being allowed four men out for the final 11 deliveries.Conway had batted throughout the innings without ever dominating, reaching a 37-ball fifty during the final set, as Brave notched the highest Hundred total at The Oval – only for Buttler’s men in black to produce an extra-terrestrial response.

Motie and Shepherd picked up three wickets each to set up the game for West Indies; Hope and Carty then did the job with the bat

Himanshu Agrawal29-Jul-20231:23

Jaffer: Suryakumar will probably get one last chance in the third ODI

West Indies beat India in an ODI for the first time since December 2019, the six-wicket win in the second of three games their first after nine defeats in a row. The win helped West Indies level the series 1-1 after losing the first ODI on Thursday.After Gudakesh Motie and Romario Shepherd got three wickets each and Alzarri Joseph picked up two to bowl India – they had rested Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli – out for 181, captain Shai Hope and the inexperienced Keacy Carty took care of the chase, which was completed with more than 13 overs to spare.It was comfortable in the end for West Indies, but didn’t come without its share of hiccups – they slipped from 53 without loss in the ninth over to 91 for 4 after 17, Shardul Thakur the main reason for it. That must have raised India’s hopes, but Hope and Carty ensured smooth sailing after that. Hope scored 63 not out, and put up an unbroken stand of 91 with Carty (48 not out) for the fifth wicket.The pitch in Bridgetown offered grip and turn throughout the game, with the spinners’ economy rate across two innings being 3.89 as against the pace bowlers’ 5.20. However, before Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja tested West Indies’ middle order – Jadeja was fast and flat; Kuldeep was slow while getting more turn – it was Thakur who removed the top three batters in the space of 25 balls to open the game up.Once they got together, Hope and Carty were content to do it in singles after Kuldeep had cleaned Shimron Hetmyer up with one that was quicker and skidded through to hit off stump.1:40

Should Axar Patel have bowled more for India to defend 181?

Carty got to a patient 48 off 65 balls, opening up only after the job was almost done and smashing consecutive boundaries off Hardik Pandya to finish the game off. But the fact that West Indies had only 182 to chase was down to a collective bowling effort, along with a combination of a helpful pitch and refreshing athleticism from the fielders.India, asked to bat at the toss, suffered two collapses of their own. First, from a solid 90 for 0 to a dicey 113 for 5, and then from 146 for 5 to 181 all out. These came either side of a lengthy rain break. West Indies sensed an opportunity in the absence of Rohit and Kohli, and they pounced. It all started in the 17th over, when a full, tossed-up delivery from Motie had Shubman Gill lofting to long-off for 34, his highest score in seven international innings across formats since June.For a change, West Indies also put up an impressive fielding and catching display•AFP/Getty Images

That got West Indies going, and in the 18th over, Alick Athanaze dived to his right at point to send Ishan Kishan back for 55. It was Kishan’s second successive half-century in the series. Two overs later, Shepherd got one to rise sharply at Axar Patel, promoted to No. 4, and he was cramped for room with the ball angling in from around the wicket. Axar tried to drop his gloves, but still ended up tickling to the wicketkeeper.Jayden Seales then got his only wicket of the day when a shoulder-height bouncer to Hardik had him pulling straight to midwicket, before Yannic Cariah foxed the comeback man Sanju Samson with turn and bounce. Landing one on a good length around off stump, Cariah got the legbreak to jump as well as move considerably away from the batter, who edged it to slip.India were sliding, and then came heavy rain. When Suryakumar Yadav and Jadeja added 33 to signal a brief recovery after the stoppage, it seemed like the break had come as a blessing for them. But West Indies seized control again, picking up the last five wickets for just 35 runs.Shepherd pitched short at Jadeja, having him top edge a pull to fine leg in the 32nd over. Motie, getting turn and bounce, had Suryakumar slashing to point after an entertaining 24. Soon after came another moment of spectacular fielding from West Indies, when Carty rushed in and dived forward from deep square leg to send back Umran Malik in the 38th over.Motie wrapped the innings up when he got last man Mukesh Kumar in the 41st, finishing with 3 for 36. As a result, West Indies now have a shot at a first ODI bilateral series win against India since May 2006.