Nicholas Pooran smashed 62 from 34 deliveries to power Andrew Flintoff’s Northern Superchargers to their first win in The Hundred this season. Against an attack of Jofra Archer, Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills, Rehan Ahmed and Akeal Hossein, Nicholas Pooran was dominant from the get-go – demonstrating both why he had been first pick in The Hundred Draft and also the power of using your own bat, having been forced to borrow Phil Salt’s on his debut against Trent Rockets.
West Indies batter Nicholas Pooran top-scores with 62 from 34 balls to take down Brave’s target of 147. Captain Harry Brook played a support role in a 50-partnership with Nicholas Pooran, and was there at the end to win it in style and see the team in purple get off the mark in this year’s competition.
Pitch and Toss
The surface at the Headingly Ground in Leeds is quite balanced, and the pitch offers some good bounce to the bowlers. However, the ball also comes onto the bat quite nicely. Opting to bat first and posting a big total on the board could be a wise decision.
What was talked about in the women’s game, it was of slow nature. There are little bits of artifical grass almost in square patterns, that is an attempt to hold the pitch together, but it’s very dry. The spinners are going to get purchase and it will come on as two-paced when the pacers are bowling. The pitch might stop on you a little bit, hitting down the ground and showing the full face of the bat is the way to go here. Don’t expect a 200 score on this track, reckons Charles Dagnell
Southern Braves skipper James Vince won the toss and opted to bat with Kieron Pollard and Akeal Hossein in the Playing XI. Northern Superchargers skipper Harry Brook bowling first has the likes of Nicholas Pooran to his squad.
Southern Braves made 146 for 8 mainly due to cameos from Kieron Pollard James Coles and Alex Davies
Captain James Vince became the first wicket to fall in the Southern Brave innings after winning the toss and opting to bat first. He scored 19 runs off 12 balls and shared a swift 32-run opening stand with partner Alex Davies (28 off 20 balls). James Coles (26 off 13 balls) and Kieron Pollard (37 off 22 balls) also made valuable contributions as the Southern Brave concluded their innings at 146/8 in 100 balls.
For the Northern Superchargers, each of the six-utilized bowlers picked up at least a wicket, with Callum Parkinson taking two while conceding 38 runs off 20 deliveries. The other wicket-takers were Jordan Clark (1/22), Matthew Potts (1/28), Mitchell Santner (1/35), Adil Rashid (1/19) and Matthew Short (1/4).
Southern Brave weren’t quite at their domineering best, as they had been at Utilita Bowl last week, but they didn’t do much wrong other than come up against Nicholas Pooran with the bat and Adil Rashid with the ball.
On a track where spin was always going to be important, Rashid’s 1 for 19 contributed to Brave’s total of 146 for 8 coming up perhaps a touch light – though it did still require Superchargers’ second-highest chase in the competition – but at the interval James Vince and his side would have felt in the game.
Nicholas Pooran powers Northern Superchargers to seven-wicket victory
Nicholas Pooran smashed 62 from 34 deliveries to power Andrew Flintoff’s Northern Superchargers to their first win in The Hundred this season. Against an attack of Jofra Archer, Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills, Rehan Ahmed and Akeal Hossein, Nicholas Pooran was dominant from the get-go – demonstrating both why he had been first pick in The Hundred Draft and also the power of using your own bat, having been forced to borrow Phil Salt’s on his debut against Trent Rockets.
Captain Harry Brook played a support role in a 50-partnership with Nicholas Pooran, and was there at the end to win it in style and see the team in purple get off the mark in this year’s competition. Archer fired up and touched 93mph but from the 15th ball onwards it was Nicholas Pooran show, the West Indian hitting five sixes and giving the Leeds crowd their fair share of catching practice on the way to a raucous home win.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Meerkat Player of the Match Nicholas Pooran after his innings of 62 runs said : “It feels amazing. After that first game we lost, playing back to back games here at home, we wanted the win. “The guys played brilliantly, and I think the bowlers did amazingly. “It’s always beautiful to play here in England. The surface, the atmosphere – it’s lovely.”
It wasn’t supposed to be as simple as this for the Superchargers but was the impact made by Nic Pooran and Harry Brook who made a mockery of the bowling. Sure it did seem like pitch got better to bat under lights but it needed some high level of skill from Nicholas Pooran and Brook to get this win so easily.
Brave probably weren’t brave enough with the ball. Akeal was under bowled and Rehan was overbowled despite getting hit. Graham Clark started well to set a good base early. Archer got rid of dangerman Short early. Jordan knocked over Clark with a pacy ball but Brook and Nicholas Pooran closed the door on the Brave with a 50-run stand.
So Headingly living up to its bill of being the easiest batting venue at the Hundred. Wasn’t the case in the first half but the wicket got batter and the batter got classier and bolder. Brook came, took charge as captain, didn’t know what his changes were and laughed about it. Then he batted his team home to victory.