Oval Invincibles defend Men’s Hundred title after Southern Brave fall short

Lord’s is a place of joy for the Oval Invincibles once again. Saqib Mahmood was the chief menace, taking three wickets and conceding just a single in the space of seven deliveries to set up a 17-run victory over Southern Brave, back-to-back titles secured for the men’s side.

The game was the Brave’s under lights at HQ, close to 29,000 watching, chasing a tough ask of 148 but well-settled at 95 for three, 30 balls still left to play with. Leus du Plooy and Laurie Evans’ partnership was growing as Mahmood returned to the attack, his captain, Sam Billings, needing something, anything. Please.

Du Plooy found four immediately but a shuffle to the leg-side for an off-side hit then proved costly. Mahmood, an international-class quick whose recent years have been riddled with back stress fractures, found leg stump. Out came Kieron Pollard, a king of the shortest form but now reliant on muscle memory in the later stages of a storied career. The ball jagged and danced, three dots leaving Pollard shotless.

That was the end of Mahmood’s set but Billings wanted more; the bowler continued for another five, pinning Pollard’s pads for his second before forcing Evans to chip to Dawid Malan at cover and leave the Brave reeling at 100 for six. Twenty-two balls remained but Mahmood had won the game and the tournament, too, his final figures three for 17.

The Brave had arrived into the final after a late resurrection in Saturday’s Eliminator at the Oval, a straight-forward Birmingham Phoenix victory turning into a tie before a super over/set/five to settle it. Jofra Archer’s fuller-length grenades won the argument.

Here, after the Brave chose to bowl first, Archer was greeted by a Will Jacks thump over the off side for six, a shot to awaken something more ferocious within the fast bowler; a bouncer followed, Jacks’ helmet pinged courtesy of a top-edge. A blow to the forearm moments later added to the pain. But the right-hander wasn’t to be disturbed by the Archer examination, firing a six over Craig Overton’s head before feasting upon Akeal Hosein for more, the 16 taken off the left-arm spinner’s first set including a drop from Pollard at long-on. Jacks, on 33 off 15, was on.

Malan, Jacks’ opening partner, was not. This had been a difficult tournament for the one-time No 1-ranked T20I batter in the world, his strike rate languishing in the nineties, his returns including a 31-ball 14 against the same opposition 10 days previous. The rhythm wasn’t to be found on Sunday evening; an 11-ball seven was his final contribution to the season.

Jacks’ own stay ended with a missed full toss against Tymal Mills, before a period of consolidation with a 46-run stand between Jordan Cox and Sam Curran. A Test cap may be Cox’s prize in the coming days so it was fitting that his first boundary had a red-ball flavour to it, with Chris Jordan driven through mid-on for four.

Sam Curran’s dismissal for 25, leaving the Invincibles 93 for three, prompted a collapse, the instigator Hosein. A nerveless and unfussy tweaker, he had Billings playing around a straight one, Donovan Ferreira lobbing up a grab to complete Pollard’s mini-redemption arc. Mills bounced out Cox to make it 102 for six with 24 balls left in the innings. The Brave had control.

Once again, Tom Curran came to the rescue. Sam’s elder brother had saved his side in last year’s final after they had lost five early wickets, slapping an unbeaten 67 off 34 balls against Manchester Originals. This time round the contribution was 24 off 11 balls, including a hop across the crease to lift Archer over extra cover and into the crowd. In a low-scoring tournament the Invincibles’ total appeared a fine one.

James Vince, the tournament’s leading run-scorer by a fair whack, opened up with Alex Davies, who walked in with two consecutive ducks behind him. It was the latter, however, who dominated their stand with a quickfire 35, enjoying the early looseness of the quicks before back-to-back boundaries off Nathan Sowter’s leg-spin. Vince, playing his more classical game, whipping and pulling, appeared at ease with surroundings.

But 58 for none was soon 66 for three, the Invincibles attacking with spin. Adam Zampa went through Davies and Jacks lit up Vince’s stumps. Jacks, wanting to stay in the show, then caught James Coles in the deep off Sowter’s bowling. The push-and-pull continued, Du Plooy and Evans setting things up for the final climax. Enter Mahmood.