Narine clinches London derby with bat after strangle with ball
Oval Invincibles 132 for 7 (S Curran 34) beat London Spirit 131 (Rossington 39, Wade 37, Sowter 3-34) by three wickets
Sunil Narine starred with bat and ball as Oval Invincibles gained a thriller in opposition to their rivals London Spirt by three wickets at Lord’s.
Narine was at his eccentric batting greatest to pummel 12 runs in three balls from the ultimate set of 5 bowled by Nathan Ellis, together with a six which simply cleared the rope because the guests scrambled to a goal of 132 with one supply to spare.
Earlier, the Trinidadian thriller spinner had produced his customary wizardry with the ball to return 2 for 14, his spin twin Nathan Sowter having blown the sport open with 3 for 34.
The pair choked a promising begin from Spirit for whom Adam Rossington top-scored with 39 together with three huge sixes, the hosts capitulating from 76 for two after 41 balls to 131 all out from the final supply of their innings.
The rain which washed out the ladies’s sport delayed the beginning by 25 minutes earlier than Rossington and Dan Lawrence started with a blaze of boundaries, each clearing the ropes, the previous pulling a brief one from Tom Curran into the second tier of the stand.
However, as soon as Sowter and Narine entered the fray it sparked a fast decline. Legspinner Sowter bowled Lawrence second ball and made it two in three when Michael Pepper reverse-swept straight to Gus Atkinson at backward level.
Two additional sixes from Essex keeper Rossington briefly threatened to regain the initiative for the hosts, however Sowter snaffled him too courtesy of the primary of two nice catches from Jordan Cox.
Narine, in the meantime, had been suitably frugal and was rewarded for his stump-to-stump bowling as first Daryl Mitchell after which Matt Critchley had been trapped lbw. Thereafter, solely Matthew Wade‘s restrained 37 supplied any resistance, with each Currans bowling properly on the dying.
With skies darkening once more Jason Roy glanced the primary ball of Invincibles’ innings for 4, however Dan Worrall acquired revenge on Roy quickly afterwards. And Worrall (2 for 23), now within the groove then produced an unplayable ball to have Heinrich Klaasen caught at slip by Critchley.
With the harmful Will Jacks having been eliminated by Jordan Thompson (2 for 23) within the meantime, Invincibles had been wobbling at 24 for 3.
Sam Curran’s response was to launch a counterattack with a flurry of boundaries including 47 with Cox earlier than the latter departed to a diving catch by Rossington off Nathan Ellis. Curran fell lbw to Critchley for 34, with 39 nonetheless wanted and Spirit had been nonetheless in it when Ellis castled Tom Curran.
Sam Billings hit a six into the hospitality packing containers however holed out to Pepper and when Wade miraculously parried a ball on the boundary again into play turning a six into simply two, Spirit appeared favourites. But Narine had the ultimate phrase in a breathless end.