| Manchester Originals 135-8 (100 balls): Munro 45 (22); Rashid 3-16 |
| Trent Rockets 136-3 (95 balls): Malan 52 (46), Patel 35* (23); Parkinson 2-21 |
| Trent Rockets win by seven wickets |
| Scorecard. Table |
Rashid Khan’s brilliance helped Trent Rockets secure their place in the latter stages of the men’s Hundred with a seven-wicket win over Manchester Originals.
Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid took three wickets in six balls in a fine display to start an Originals collapse from 70-1 to 135-8 from their 100 balls.
In reply, Rockets lost Alex Hales for 19 and Steven Mullaney for 17 but England batter Dawid Malan hit a steady 52 from 46 balls.
He fell with 12 needed from 10 balls, but Samit Patel’s 35 not out steered the Rockets to a relatively comfortably win with five balls to spare at Trent Bridge.
The Rockets go second on 10 points and now cannot finish outside the top three places, with Oval Invincibles and Southern Brave, in third and fourth respectively, playing each other on Monday.
Depending on other results they could still go through to Saturday’s final automatically as group winners or compete in the eliminator between second and third.
Rashid stands up for Rockets
Rashid’s performance – he finished with 3-16 – showed just why he is one of the best white-ball bowlers in the world.
Manchester were going well when he came into the attack after 40 balls, but the 22-year-old removed Phil Salt with his first delivery and saw off Colin Ackermann and Carlos Brathwaite soon after.
Earlier in the day, the Rockets’ women faltered in a must-win scenario but Rashid, the first pick in the original Hundred draft back in 2019, grabbed the game and swung it completely in his side’s favour.
As ever, he bowled his fizzing leg-spin, confusing batters by turning the ball in both directions.
There were 11 dot balls – balls when the batter failed to score – in his 20 deliveries, while he also took two good catches.
“Outstanding,” said former England batter Lydia Greenway. “You can understand why he was the first pick of competition. He is a real game-changer.”
If Brave and Invincibles tie their match on Monday – or it ends without a result – they will join Rockets on 10 points, but given Rockets have a superior net run-rate to the Brave they cannot be overtaken in those circumstances when net run-rate stays the same.
Parkinson impresses again
It was a good night for leg-spinners with England’s Matt Parkinson also standing out despite finishing on the losing side.
He removed both Hales and Mullaney, finding turn and deceiving both with the flight of his deliveries through the air.
In a below-par Manchester side Parkinson has had an impressive tournament – he ends with nine wickets from six matches – to continue an excellent summer.
Having impressed on England duty before The Hundred he will now return to Lancashire for next week’s Twenty20 Blast quarter-final against Somerset.
Should his form carry on into the four-day game he could also have a winter in Australia to look forward to, with England in the Ashes series.
