Men's Hundred final: Trent Rockets beat Manchester Originals in low-scoring thriller

Trent Rockets were crowned men's Hundred champions after beating Manchester Originals by two wickets in a thrilling, nailbiting final at Lord's.

Chasing just 121 to win, the Rockets struggled and needed 11 from the final five balls.

But in a rip-roaring finale, captain Lewis Gregory fired his side over the line by whipping Richard Gleeson for a stunning six and following with a four and a single to seal a win with two balls to spare.

As the ball reached the boundary, the Rockets players stormed on to the field and mobbed Gregory as a capacity Lord's crowd roared.

"What a place to play," Gregory said. "To win a final here is amazing and the crowd have been fantastic tonight and throughout the whole competition."

The momentum swung from one side to the other in the closing stages with the Originals on course for an unlikely victory before the final set. They had struggled to 120-9 from their 100 balls.

The win means the Rockets join Oval Invincibles women, who beat Southern Brave to defend their title earlier in the day, as champions of The Hundred in 2022.

Gregory delivers in dramatic finale

After hitting the winning run, Gregory roared in delight. His batting partner Luke Wood tossed his bat high into the night's sky in celebration.

The Originals were probably favourites as Gleeson stood at the top of his mark but his full ball was brilliantly sent into the stands by Gregory - the 30-year-old all-rounder who has played 12 times for England.

"Under pressure that was an outstanding shot," former England bowler Steven Finn said on BBC commentary.

"He has hit that so clean. To maintain his focus, hold his shape and time the ball to the boundary was an unbelievable piece of composure."

The six sent the supposedly neutral crowd wild. From there the game felt like the Rockets' and a poor ball from Gleeson was clipped away to make the result certain.

The men's tournament has drifted for much of the Hundred this year with many one-sided games but a tricky pitch provided a low-scoring thriller to remember.

Cook impresses with the ball

The surface made scoring more difficult than expected and as a result this was a final of canny bowling rather than towering six-hitting.

The Match Hero award went to Rockets' bowler Sam Cook who took four wickets for just 18 runs in an impressive team display.

The Rockets attack does not feature the biggest names, especially now overseas spinners Rashid Khan and Tabraiz Shamsi have left the tournament for other commitments, but their group of experienced, dependable bowlers delivered, representing on the big stage the English county system which has produced these players.

Cook, a 25-year-old uncapped seamer who has learned his trade with Essex in county cricket, dismissed Originals captain Laurie Evans and number three Wayne Madsen at the start and returned at the end with two pinpoint yorkers.

In between 37-year-old spinner Samit Patel, who played the last of his 60 games for England in 2015, took three wickets and was on a hat-trick at one stage.

The Rockets' batters made hard work of the chase but the efforts of the bowlers should not be forgotten amid Gregory's heroics.

Originals fall agonisingly short

The Originals came into the final as the form team on the back of six successive wins.

After disappointing with the bat, their bowlers restricted scoring and took regular wickets throughout the Rockets chase, including the big scalps of Alex Hales and Dawid Malan for eight and 19 respectively.

The Originals visibly grew in confidence as the pendulum swung and held their catches under pressure.

Perhaps crucially they failed to bowl their deliveries in the allotted time and as a result were punished by having to bring an extra fielder inside the 30-yard circle.

That said, no fielder would have been able to stop Gregory's six and Evans was impressively gracious in defeat.

"You've got to hand it to the Trent Rockets, they played the better cricket throughout," he told BBC Two.

"I think we misread the pitch early on. I think all the way through we lost too many wickets and they bowled well. We just didn't get over the line today."

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