Harry Brook crunched five sixes and three fours off a host of fellow England internationals on the day his Northern Superchargers side and defending champions Oval Invincibles secured top-three finishes in The Hundred.
Brook (56 off 27) tucked into the bowling of Invincibles’ Gus Atkinson, Will Jacks and Curran brothers Sam and Tom before he was finally caught off Sam in the deep as Superchargers racked up 198-4 at Headingley on Saturday afternoon.
Defending champions Invincibles could only make 182-7 in reply as they lost by 16 runs and were subsequently joined at the top of the table on 20 points by their opponents.
London Spirit’s win over Southern Brave in the evening match at Lord’s then guaranteed Superchargers and Invincibles at least a spot in the eliminator, with Trent Rockets to take the final qualification place if they beat Welsh Fire in Cardiff on Sunday.
Superchargers’ big total – the second-highest of the 2025 edition – also featured contributions from Zak Crawley (49 off 25), South Africa’s David Miller (37 off 16 balls) and Dawid Malan (34 off 31), with Miller matching Brook’s tally of five sixes.
Brook’s side are now only off top spot in the men’s Hundred table due to net run-rate
Each of Invincibles’ top four, including Jordan Cox (24 off 16), fell between 24 and 30 and even though Donovan Ferreira’s 41 off 15 balls gave the visitors hope, they eventually slipped to just their second defeat of the season.
Spirit stay alive as Williamson stars against Brave
In the second men’s game, Spirit ran out convincing 47-run winners over Brave after piling on 186-4 from their 100 balls – Kane Williamson top-scoring with 53 off 28 for his maiden Hundred fifty – and then bundling their opponents out for 139 in response.
Kane Williamson top-scored for London Spirit as they kept their slim Hundred play-off hopes alive
Jamie Smith (44 off 18) and David Warner (25 off 20) also contributed heavily for Spirit as Jofra Archer was taken for 42 runs from his 20 balls – although the England quick was the man to remove Williamson, caught at deep midwicket.
Laurie Evans (37 off 21) and Jason Roy (37 off 23) gave Brave a sniff of victory but those hopes eventually petered out with Jamie Overton bowling twin brother Craig to clinch Spirit’s victory after Liam Dawson and Richard Gleeson each claimed three wickets.
Spirit and Brave can still mathematically qualify for the top three if they win their final group games, against Invincibles on Monday and Welsh Fire on Thursday respectively.
However, they will both be eliminated, along with Birmingham Phoenix, Manchester Originals and Fire, if Rockets see off Fire on Sunday afternoon.
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Jamie Overton cleaned up twin brother Craig as Spirit sealed victory over Brave at Lord’s
How do matches work?
One hundred balls a side, the team with the most runs wins. It is as simple as that.Five bowlers can bowl up to 20 balls in an innings, including five or 10 in a row.The traditional six-ball overs seen in other forms of cricket are not used in The Hundred, with 10 balls bowled before a change of ends.The powerplay is for the first 25 balls of an innings, with only two fielders allowed outside the 30-yard circle.A 25-ball-a-side game is the minimum length that can be played in the event of wet weather.
What’s next?
Sunday is a four-match day in The Hundred, with Welsh Fire taking on Trent Rockets in Cardiff (women’s match at 11am, men’s at 2.30pm), plus Manchester Originals vs Birmingham Phoenix at Emirates Old Trafford (women’s match at 2.30pm, men’s at 6pm).
Watch every match across the women’s and men’s competitions in The Hundred live on Sky Sports from August 5-31.
