THE HUNDRED – MEN’S COMPETITION 2025
Akeal Hosein returned figures of 2 for 28 © Getty
A collective bowling performance from Trent Rockets saw them win their second game in a row as they brushed aside Northern Superchargers at Trent Bridge. On a surface where there was some grip, Akeal Hosein set up the win with his new ball burst that saw Superchargers get restricted to just 124/9 which was then chased down with four balls to spare.
Opting to field, Rockets struck very early as Hosein drifted one into Dawid Malan to trap him lbw. Two balls later, another delivery that drifted in, straightened after pitching to hit Zak Crawley on the pads and he had to depart as well. With the openers back in the pavilion already, Superchargers were on the backfoot from which they never recovered.
Michael Pepper and Dan Lawrence didn’t trouble the scorers much either as the batting side were reduced to 34/4 in no time. Harry Brook though, looked like he was batting on a different surface as he took on Hosein for a six and a four off successive deliveries and repeated that against David Willey. He was involved in a vital stand with Graham Clark that put Superchargers well on their way to recovery. But against the run of play, Marcus Stoinis’ introduction did wonders as he removed Brook and Imad Wasim off successive deliveries and came up with figures of 2/0 from his first set.
Just a few balls later, Clark was sent packing by Rehan Ahmed and from thereon, the visitors succumbed and scratched their way to set a target of 125 for Rockets. Contrary to the start Superchargers made, the Rockets openers looked in good touch with Tom Banton finding the boundary thrice at the start. Initially scratchy, Joe Root got going with a six against Matthew Potts. The duo knocked off almost half the target before Wasim cleaned up Banton and followed it up with Root’s wicket to give his side an opening.
The spinners continued to have a fruitful outing as it was now the turn of Adil Rashid to make an impact with a couple of crucial blows. But prior to that, Rehan Ahmed had already done enough damage to drag his side closer to the target as Stoinis and Adam Hose put the finishing touches with four balls to spare.
Brief scores: Northern Superchargers 124/9 in 100 balls (Harry Brook 45, Graham Clark 36; Marcus Stoinis 2/0, Rehan Ahmed 2/23) lost to Trent Rockets 128/5 in 96 balls (Tom Banton 37; Imad Wasim 3/19) by 5 wickets
© Cricbuzz
