Andrew Flintoff’s Northern Superchargers won the Hundred twice in a row thanks to Nicholas Pooran’s second consecutive big-hitting half-century.
Following the women’s team’s equally sweeping victory earlier in the day, Pooran made sure the theme of the day was Superchargers teams breaking the boundaries and crashing the party in front of 24,160 eager fans at the Kia Oval.
The two victories put a stop to the 100% records of the Oval Invincibles teams and created a wide opening in the men’s and women’s tournaments.
With four massive sixes in just 41 balls, Pooran’s 65 helped his side overcome a challenging start and limit the Superchargers to 145 from 100 balls. Although Ollie Robinson’s 20 from 10 provided some late momentum and gave the visitors a competitive total at halftime, Pooran found it easier than most to find or clear the boundary.
The Superchargers bowlers, led by Matthew Potts, Dillon Pennington, and Jordan Clark, were stingy up top and never let the Invincibles escape their pursuit. In the field, they had strong support from their teammates, as Mitchell Santner and Adam Hose made excellent deep catches.
Along with Adil Rashid and Matt Short, Santner was one of three spinners who supported his seamers’ fine performance to deny the Invincibles any momentum in the middle of their innings.
Donovan Ferreira had time to tease the crowd with five sixes in a 24-ball 49 as the home team’s hopes started to wane. Before being removed by Potts, the South African’s daring and entertaining knock gave a fleeting impression of turning the tide of the match, but he was the only player to reach 20 in a chase that never really got going.
“For me, it’s about being consistent with my mindset and playing the situation of the game,” Meerkat Match Hero Pooran stated. I’ve been in similar circumstances before and simply left, but today I felt like I had to honour the circumstance and stay to the very end.
Spencer Johnson bowled exceptionally well for the Oval Invincibles with the new ball. It was all about being there for me. For me, the innings grew better as they went on, but it also seemed like it was game on if we could score more than 130. And I simply believed that we could only succeed if we built the alliance or if I could stick around until the very end.
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It’s outstanding. In a format like this, consecutive victories are quite crucial. For us to keep developing as a team, it is crucial that we play against the defending champs away from our home field and win. On Sunday, we’re returning to Headingley, where ideally we can keep checking the boxes and achieving the desired outcome.”
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