| The Hundred men’s competition, The Kia Oval |
| Welsh Fire 138-6 (100 balls): Clarke (46); Atkinson 3-26 |
| Oval Invincibles 138-7 (100 balls): Cox 51 (43), T Curran 38* (18); Shaheen 2-22 |
| Match tied |
| Scorecard; Table. |
Oval Invincibles and Welsh Fire played out the first tie in The Hundred after a thrilling finish at the Kia Oval.
Needing three runs to win off the final ball, Tom Curran’s despairing dive ensured Invincibles got two runs to finish on 138-7, matching Fire’s score.
Curran impressed with bat and ball, ending unbeaten on 38 from 18 balls as well as taking 2-27.
Welsh Fire earlier reached 138-6 from their 100 balls, including a gutsy 69 from 46 deliveries by Joe Clarke.
A fine half-century from Jordan Cox seemed to have put Invincibles in control, but his dismissal for 51 triggered a mid-innings collapse, as they lost four wickets for 12 runs to slump to 100-6.
Defeat looked likely with 38 more runs still needed off 17 balls, but Curran hit four booming sixes to give his side a chance for victory off the final ball.
Both sides were then left nervously waiting for the third umpire’s decision on the big screen, with some Welsh Fire players celebrating, thinking wicketkeeper Clarke had whipped off the balls with Curran short of his ground.
The eventual decision of not out sparked huge cheers from the Oval crowd, who were treated to a pulsating match that swung one way and then the other.
What else do you need to know?
- Welsh Fire bowler Shaheen Afridi removed Jason Roy with the first ball of the Invincibles innings, having taken two wickets with his first two balls against Manchester Originals on Wednesday.
- Joe Clarke scored exactly half of Welsh Fire’s total and hit more boundaries than the rest of the side put together.
- Gus Atkinson impressed with the ball for Oval Invincibles, reaching speeds of up to 91mph and taking 3-26 from his 20 balls.
- Fire all-rounder Ben Green had an eventful match, scoring 25 from 16 balls, before dropping one catch, holding on to two and taking two wickets.
‘A great start to The Hundred’ – what they said
Match hero Tom Curran speaking to Sky Sports: “That was so tight. I guess you could say a fair result in the end. It could have gone either way on that last ball.
“When I came in there was one option. We had to go – we needed about 12 a set. They have two world class death bowlers. I was lucky to get a few out of the middle – what a game.
“It was amazing. A lot of the time when you’re playing you can’t hear the crowd, it’s just white noise, but I could hear it there, it was loud. We’ve had last-ball finishes in almost every game – it’s been a great start to The Hundred.”
You can watch Hundred matches on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer every Wednesday and Saturday throughout the competition, alongside both finals on Sunday, 27 August. More details.
