With the final round of matches under way it’s all to play for in The Hundred.
In the men’s competition four teams are battling for two places in the knockout stage after Trent Rockets booked their place on Monday, while in the women’s tournament there is a four-way tussle for one remaining spot.
All will be decided in the three double-headers across the next two days before Friday’s eliminators and Saturday’s finals.
BBC Sport explains how each team can progress…
The remaining fixtures…
- Tuesday: Spirit v Phoenix (women 15:00, men 18:30)
- Wednesday: Superchargers v Brave (women 11:30, men 15:00)
- Wednesday: Originals v Invincibles (women 15:00, men 18:30) – both matches live on BBC Two from 14:30
Each group winner progresses directly into Saturday’s finals. The teams who finish second and third meet in the eliminators on Friday for a place in the final.
Two knockout spots up for grabs
Manchester Originals’ thumping win over Birmingham Phoenix on Sunday set up a grandstand finish in the men’s competition.
The Originals, London Spirit, Oval Invincibles and Phoenix can all join Rockets in the top three of the men’s competition and each of them could still miss out.
Leaders Rockets became the first team to secure progression when they beat winless Welsh Fire on Monday by 29 runs at Trent Bridge.
On Tuesday, Spirit host Phoenix at Lord’s knowing they will also qualify with a win, while Phoenix will likely need to win by a big margin because of their inferior net run-rate.
The result of that game will also decide who automatically qualifies for Saturday’s final at Lord’s. If Spirit lose then Rockets will progress as group winners, but a Spirit win, alongside the required net run-rate improvement, would see them through to the final and demote Rockets to the eliminator.
The Originals host the Invincibles on Wednesday in what is effectively a knockout match, with the winner progressing to the eliminator.
Despite being able to join the Originals, Invincibles and Phoenix on eight points, Northern Superchargers and Southern Brave are out because one of the Originals or the Invincibles must take at least a point from their fixture.
The four-way fight for third
In the women’s Hundred, four teams – Birmingham Phoenix, Trent Rockets, Manchester Originals and Northern Superchargers – can still join Southern Brave and Oval Invincibles in securing a place in the knockout stages.
The Rockets beat seventh-placed Welsh Fire on Monday to move into third place and put the pressure on Phoenix, who visit bottom-of-the-table Spirit on Tuesday.
Phoenix’s fate is in their own hands, with a win or tie seeing them climb back above Rockets and be guaranteed of a place in the play-offs.
If they don’t, the Rockets would retain third, but both Manchester Originals and Northern Superchargers could climb above them if they win their final games on Wednesday against leaders Brave and second-placed Invincibles respectively, though they will need big net run-rate swings too.
The race for top two
The Invincibles and Brave are the only two teams in the women’s competition that they are definitely through.
What is not decided is which of the two sides will finish top and therefore progress directly to Saturday’s final and avoid having to play in the eliminator.
Brave’s match against the Superchargers comes first. If they win they finish top.
But if they slip up, the Invincibles could steal the space by beating the Originals that afternoon, if they also overhaul Brave’s net run-rate.
