Trent Rockets came out victorious in a top of the table clash against Manchester Super Giants at Old Trafford after a masterful unbeaten knock of 72 from 35 balls from Kiwi star Finn Allen saw them chase down a target of 138 with 13 balls to spare.
Ben Duckett fell second ball of the Rockets’ chase, castled by England team-mate Gus Atkinson after a failed attempt at a scoop. Tom Banton was then dismissed by Sonny Baker to put the pressure on Allen and new man Sam Billings
Unfazed, Billings and Allen got into their work, targeting both spin and seam, and reached a 50 partnership from 25 balls. Allen had a life off Liam Dawson on 32 – an incredibly difficult caught-and-bowled – and went on to reach a 50 from 23 balls.
Billings had fallen to Atkinson and Tim David to Baker, but Mitchell Santner (24 not out from 17) joined Allen and together they eased the Rockets to a six-wicket win and the top of the table.
Hosts Manchester Super Giants had earlier reached 38-0 at the end of the powerplay, only for Craig Overton to strike three times to rattle the home side. He removed both openers, Tim Seifert caught at mid-off and Aiden Markram at mid-on, before having Heinrich Klaassen pouched on the square-leg boundary for a two-ball duck.
The surface proved a tough one to accelerate on as Jos Buttler and Leus du Plooy found the spin of Santner and the changes of pace and length of Lewis Gregory difficult to get after. The shackles were broken when du Plooy cleared the ropes off the final delivery of Matt Henry’s quota. He then hit a maximum off Mohammad Amir to move the score onto 115-3 with 10 balls remaining.
Finn Allen finished unbeaten on 72 runs with a superb performance (Getty Images)
The Super Giants ended strongly. Buttler hit two fours and a six off Gregory in the final five balls to bring up his third consecutive half-century and finish 55 not out as the home side closed on 137-3 – but the explosive Kiwi Allen was to make light work of it to take the Rockets to victory.
“It was tough at the start, they bowled well and challenged us, they have a pretty impressive bowling line-up,” said Allen, who was the Meerkat Match Hero.
“I wanted to try and have a good foundation to start off with and absorb pressure where I could.”
The current Hundred league standings
What’s next in The Hundred?
Saturday sees a double-header as Birmingham Phoenix host Welsh Fire with the women’s match at 11am and the men’s match at 2.30pm.
Also at 2.30pm, the women’s match between London Spirit take on Southern Brave takes place at Lord’s, before the men’s match at 6pm.
Watch every match of The Hundred through to the finals on Sunday, August 16. Watch The Hundred and more contract-free on NOW
