Oval Invincibles secured passage to the knock-out rounds of The Hundred after a Jordan Cox fifty took them to a straightforward victory over London Spirit at The Kia Oval.
Cox rounded off a good week after being selected for the England Test squad by finishing things off with a six to end up 61 not out from just 30 balls, and to take his team to a nine-wicket victory.
The result was all but settled by the halfway mark, the already-eliminated Spirit able to post just 96 from their innings.
Michael Pepper started well for the visitors, attacking the powerplay for an 18-ball 27, but when he fell – bowled by Adam Zampa – the die was cast.
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Adam Zampa takes a reaction catch off his own bowling to end with FOUR wickets!
Twenty-one balls later Spirit were 52-5, with Ollie Pope, Shimron Hetmyer and Andre Russell back in the hutch. They never recovered, with Zampa continuing his fine tournament with 4-17.
There was also hard work with the ball from Sam Curran (3-10) who removed Keaton Jennings, Matt Critchley, and Nathan Ellis.
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Sam Curran took 3 wickets as Oval Invincibles bowled out London Spirit for only 96 runs.
Ollie Stone – like Cox, in England’s squad for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka – ran in hard as Spirit sought to defend their score but it was a case of when and not if for Invincibles, and Cox ended it with 37 balls to spare.
The win means Sam Billings’ side – who have won six of their seven games – are guaranteed a place in the top three of the men’s competition, with their final game against Trent Rockets deciding whether they’ll head straight to The Hundred Final on Sunday August 18 or if they’ll need to progress through The Hundred Eliminator the day before.
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Tom Curran and Spencer Johnson were amongst the standout players who dressed up to arrive in style at the Oval ahead of the Hundred.
Player of the match – Adam Zampa
“I’m pleased with that performance. They put us under the pump in the powerplay early but yet again there was a bit of purchase in the surface and the boys dragged it back really well through the middle.
“We’ve been playing really good cricket throughout. Today we knew how important it was to get the win. Finishing first and hopefully going straight through to Lord’s, we’ve potentially made it really tough for anyone to overtake us from here. It’s really important next game that we make that a certainty.”
What’s next?
The Hundred continues on Monday August 12 with a double-header as Birmingham Phoenix women take on Trent Rockets women at 3pm before the men’s match at 6pm.
The women’s match will be live on Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Cricket, and Sky Sports+ from 2.30pm followed by the men’s match from 6pm.
Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.