We have seen this one before. For the third year in a row Oval Invincibles rocked up to Lord’s, batted first and ended up with the trophy. As the Hundred signed off on its opening chapter – next year will bring new owners, rebranding and potentially an extreme makeover of squads – this was a fitting result, the Invincibles men having been the standout side for much of it.
Will Jacks and Nathan Sowter, both of whom played in the Invincibles’ first match in 2021, were the ones responsible this time, with Trent Rockets falling to a 26-run defeat. Jacks provided the hits in the first half, finishing with 72 off 41 balls as the Invincibles put up 168, and Sowter ruined the chase quickly. A 10-ball set by the leg-spinner accounted for the Rockets’ top three of Tom Banton, Joe Root and Rehan Ahmed. Marcus Stoinis briefly threatened with 64 off 38, but it never turned into a serious fright.
Ben Sanderson was pummelled through the off-side and George Linde felt double pain from a dropped chance; the left-arm spinner failed to take a return catch off Cox and the blow to the hand forced him off the field. Jacks tonked Ahmed over midwicket to bring up his half-century off 32 balls, with the Rockets threatening to disintegrate. Ahmed did account for Cox on 40, but Jacks remained locked in, driving Pennington over extra cover for six and perishing with 15 balls left in the innings.
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The Rockets strolled out with their two leading run-scorers, Banton and the ever-evolving Root. After a 32-run powerplay, some hoo-ha was needed against spin. Adam Zampa was the big-name leggie in the Invincibles lineup but it was his less heralded colleague who broke through.
Sowter, one of two players in the XI without an international cap, invited a Root launch to Jacks at long-on and rattled Ahmed’s stumps for a duck. Sam Billings kept Sowter on for another five, a call that resulted in a miscue from Banton. Ten consecutive deliveries resulted in three runs and three wickets, Sowter in effect bringing the match to an end with 60 balls to spare.
A new-look tournament awaits, though the prospect of a switch to Twenty20 does not appeal to Cox. “I absolutely love the [Hundred] format, I think it’s the best format,” he said, questioning the value of competing with the Indian Premier League. “What’s the point in trying to change it to be second best? Why ruin it?”
