Miserly Overton helps Brave thrash Originals

Craig Overton celebrates taking a wicket for Southern BraveImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Seam bowler Craig Overton has played eight Test matches for England

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The Hundred men's competition, Utilita Bowl, Southampton

Manchester Originals 116-6 (100 balls): Madsen 43* (37); C Overton 2-11

Southern Brave 117-3 (78 balls): Evans (25*); Usama 1-10

Brave won by seven wickets

Scorecard. Table

Craig Overton took a miserly 2-11 as a disciplined bowling performance from Southern Brave helped them to an emphatic seven-wicket win over Manchester Originals in The Hundred men's competition.

Originals lost skipper Phil Salt for seven early on and they hit just three boundaries off the first 50 balls as they crawled to 41-4 after Overton and Akeal Hosein bowled tightly.

Wayne Madsen gave the Originals innings some impetus with an unbeaten 43 but Tymal Mills and Chris Jordan claimed two wickets apiece to keep them in check at the death.

A total of 116 looked decidedly unthreatening and Alex Davies bludgeoned 24 off 12 balls to get Brave off to flying start before he fell to spinner Tom Hartley.

James Vince (20) and Leus du Plooy (21) both found some rhythm at the crease then Laurie Evans got Brave over the line with 22 balls to spare as he blasted a quickfire unbeaten 25.

Brave fast bowler Jofra Archer missed the match after he was instructed to rest by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

Media caption,

Big hits and great catches - The Hundred plays of the day

What else do you need to know?

  • Brave moved up to third in The Hundred table - level on four points with leaders Trent Rockets and second-placed Oval Invincibles - after two wins from their first three matches.

  • Originals were the beaten finalists in last year's men's edition of The Hundred but have lost all three of their games in the 2024 tournament so far.

  • As well as taking two wickets, Craig Overton bowled 12 dots in his set of 20, which cost just 0.55 runs per ball. However, he dropped three catches in the field including one off his own bowling.

  • Usama Mir was out hit wicket off the final ball of the Originals' innings. He is the third batter to be out to this mode of dismissal in the history of the tournament after Finn Allen and Fred Klaassen - both in August 2021.

'Five quality bowlers' - what they said

Hero of the match Craig Overton of Southern Brave: "A great win. We enjoy playing here and we know what we need to do here. It's great to get another win on the board.

"I just tried to bash the top of the stumps as much as possible. The pitch was a bit two-paced so just tried to make the batters play as much as possible."

Southern Brave skipper James Vince: "I thought the bowlers did a fantastic job. Craig Overton was outstanding again, and Akeal Hosein bowled beautifully.

"Given the quality of the bowlers we have got it makes it easier with the match-ups. You are not so worried. They are five quality bowlers and I have full faith in them. It could have been a couple more balls to spare but 20 odd is pretty good."

What is happening on Friday?

There is a Hundred double-header on Friday, with Oval Invincibles facing Northern Superchargers at the Kia Oval (women's at 15:00 BST and men's at 18:30).

You can follow ball-by-ball commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website and app.

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