Oval Invincibles beat Trent Rockets to complete Hundred three-peat as the Injury-hit Rockets fail to fire in the Final.
Jacks, Sowter clinch Oval Invincibles Men’s Hundred three-peat.
Other than death, taxes, and Oval Invincibles winning the men’s hundred, nothing in this world is guaranteed. In three straight seasons, they have won the group stage and advanced straight to the Lord’s final, and Sam Billings has raised the golden ‘H’ trophy at the end of each game. Following two close finals, this was a crushing defeat.
Three of their regular suspects delivered when it counted: Will Jacks and Jordan Cox added 87 off 55 balls to support their total of 168, and the chase was derailed by the explosive Nathan Sowter, who took three wickets in his first seven balls. The Invincibles have always relied on continuity as their greatest strength. Billings and coach Tom Moody have been with them since the beginning, as have the other three.
In short-form leagues, they were one of only a few teams to accomplish a “three-peat,” and they did it effortlessly. Even if they haven’t lived up to their name, the Invincibles’ three-season record—21 victories, one draw, and only five losses—is still impressive. They have developed into a winning machine in a system intended to be unpredictable.
The Invincibles have actually achieved too much success for their own benefit. With new investors joining the Hundred, the ECB is planning a squad “reset” for next year, akin to the IPL’s mega-auction. At the heart of short-form cricket, it is intended to preserve the ‘any given Sunday’ attitude; on any given Sunday, however, the Invincibles are typically winning.
After being sacked by Middlesex three years ago, journeyman legspinner Sowter questioned whether his professional career was ended. However, he has since emerged as an unexpected key member of the Invincibles attack and kept his greatest effort of the season for the biggest stage.
When Sowter entered the attack, the Rockets were 35 for 0 after 30 balls, and Joe Root and Tom Banton were having trouble staying on the ball. They were 38 for 3 after ten balls: Banton picked out long-off, Root holed out to long-on, and Rehan Ahmed left for second-ball duck after missing a straight one.
Jacks became the first player to reach 1,000 runs for the Invincibles by smashing Willey through mid-off for four off the opening ball of the final and then slicing the third through the off-side ring. After three early boundaries, his opening partner Tawanda Muyeye was dismissed, bringing in Cox, the tournament’s top run scorer, at No. 3.
Cox was immediately up and running with two rasping cuts, and he has been in incredible form this month. Jacks quickly took advantage of his life on 28 by reverse-sweeping Rehan for four runs before throwing him into the upper tier of the Grandstand with a full toss to midwicket that was judged a no-ball on height.
Is Nottingham experiencing a plague outbreak? When it comes to injuries, Andy Flower’s team has had no success. They lost two seamers in the 24 hours leading up to the final: Lockie Ferguson, whose hamstring went during the warm-ups, and Sam Cook, who broke a thumb when Dan Lawrence slapped him back in the Eliminator. Adam Hose, Tom Alsop, and Max Holden were already out.
With five sixes in his innings of 64 off 38 balls, Marcus Stoinis tried his hardest to keep the chase going, but the asking rate got out of the Rockets’ grasp. Saqib Mahmood trapped him leg before wicket to secure the Invincibles’ third consecutive crown, which they ostensibly needed to win off the penultimate ball.