In their top-of-the-table match at The Kia Oval, Oval Invincibles defeated Southern Brave by six wickets, claiming the biggest scalp of their title defence to date.
After restricting Brave to 118 for eight with four wickets taken by Tom Curran (his younger brother Sam chipped in with two), an odd chase ensued in which Chris Jordan did not give a run from his opening 11 deliveries, and Dawid Malan faced ten straight dot balls.
Sam Curran and Jordan Cox, the most recent addition to England’s Test team, eventually broke the chains with a 58-run partnership from 27 balls, helping the hosts cross the finish line with 15 balls remaining.
With 52 from 39 balls, James Vince was the only Brave batter who was able to handle the home onslaught, and the Oval Invincibles took a step closer to securing their spot in the knockout stages.
While captain Sam Curran would receive a third straight Meerkat Match Hero award tonight, his older brother Tom stole the show as the ball went 4 for 24 in front of 23,948 spectators. Curran has been instrumental in a run of five wins in six games. The visitors lost wicket around Vince far too frequently, and they ended up at 31 for 4.
When he bowled Alex Davies, Sam Curran was already starting to enjoy his early aeroplane celebration. However, Tom managed to find a regulation edge from Andre Fletcher to Sam Billings. Brave fell behind the game right away after Laurie Evans top-edged Adam Zampa and Will Jacks bowled Leus du Plooy. After making 18 off of 15 balls, Captain Vince started to get his team back into the game. He shared a 58-run partnership with Kieron Pollard, who defeated Sam Curran to give Billings his third catch.
From the last delivery of the innings, Tom Curran was on a hat-trick, removing Akeal Hossein and Jofra Archer in consecutive balls, before Craig Overton narrowly avoided the field and saw the ball go away to the rope.
Jacks hammered the opening ball of the reply for six, but the pursuit lost all momentum two balls later when he gave Overton a leading edge. Malan did manage to smash a six, but after that he was unable to find the ball and was smartly caught by Archer at mid-on, leaving him at 14 off 31 balls.
However, Jordan Cox was joined by the impressive Sam Curran, who quickly put an end to the match by taking 23 off of four deliveries from Hosein to calm any fears. Hosein eventually removed Sam Curran, but not before Cox finished undefeated on 46 from 29 balls, having added 35 from 18 balls.
“Huge win,” stated Sam Curran, the Meerkat Match Hero. The current two best teams and a battle at the top of the standings. We were aware that winning this would offer us the best opportunity to advance directly to Lord’s (and make it to the final).
This season, we have really complemented one another with the ball. We only had to swing and hope towards the end, and it worked out.
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“I’m having a great time and feeling quite confident. This team seems to be clicking, and hopefully we can keep it up for the remainder of the competition.”
India
