The injury absence of Jos Buttler was keenly felt by Manchester Originals as they slumped to the third lowest men’s score in The Hundred and an eight-wicket defeat to Welsh Fire at Emirates Old Trafford.
England white-ball captain Buttler is awaiting the results of a scan on his calf and while he has not yet been ruled out of the tournament, he missed out on Thursday night as the Originals fell to 4-3, 37-7 before posting a modest 86-8.
The Fire reached their target in 57 balls with Jonny Bairstow – recently withdrawn from the England Test squad – making 18 from 10 balls at the top of the order and Joe Clarke cracking 33 not out from 24 deliveries.
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Fire’s David Willey took three early wickets as the Originals slumped to 4-3
Phil Salt, Buttler’s replacement as Originals captain, was dismissed for a duck on the second ball of the match, caught at cover by former England all-rounder David Willey, who then dismissed Max Holden (2) and Paul Walter (0) from the 14th and 15th deliveries of the game respectively en route to figures of 3-14 from 20 balls.
The lowest men’s score in The Hundred is 75, which Birmingham Phoenix achieved against Originals at Edgbaston in 2022 and Originals – beaten finalists in the previous two years – overtook thanks to contributions from Jamie Overton (23 from 25) and Scott Currie (26 from 25).
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Watch Glenn Philips’ incredible attempt to take a ball on the boundary during the Fire vs Originals match in Manchester
But that total did not test Fire, who recorded the largest margin of victory in terms of deliveries remaining in the history of the men’s competition, eclipsing the 41 balls that remained when they were beaten by Southern Brave last August.
Fire’s victory was set up by the bowlers, with Willey supported by fellow left-handers Josh Little (2-21) – who had just arrived in the country after playing Major League Cricket in Dallas – and David Payne (1-11), as well as leg-spinner Mason Crane (1-19) and right-arm seamer Jake Ball (1-20).
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Chaos reigned from the last ball of the Originals’ innings as Fire failed to complete a run out
And after?
The Hundred continues on Friday as Northern Superchargers take charge Trent Rockets at Headingley.
The women’s match (2.30pm on air, 3pm first ball) is live on Sky Sports Mix and streamed for free on skysports.com, the Sky Sports app and the Sky Sports Cricket YouTube channel.
The men’s match, which will be the first to be led by Superchargers head coach Andrew Flintoff, is being shown live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event from 6.30pm with the first ball at 6.35pm.
Sky Sports will be showing all 68 matches of The Hundred live this summer, while you can also watch selected matches via free streams on Sky Sports’ digital platforms and the Sky Sports Cricket YouTube channel.
