Oval Invincibles seal third straight Hundred title

Oval Invincibles have done the Hundred three-peat. On Sunday night, they wrapped up a hat-trick of Hundred titles with a 26-run victory over Trent Rockets, riding on Will Jacks's blistering 72 and Nathan Sowter's game-breaking spell (3-25). Having looked set to get close to 180, they stumbled at the death to finish on 168/5 and looked set to finish runners-up for the first time, but the bowlers stepped up to avoid that.

Asked to bat, Invincibles got exactly the start they wanted. Jacks was off the blocks quickly, smashing seven fours and four sixes in a 41-ball stay that kept Rockets' bowlers under constant pressure. Jordan Cox was breezy at the other end, with 40 off 28. The pair pushed their side forward after the early exit of Tawanda Muyeye. When Rehan Ahmed broke the partnership, it had been worth 87 runs, that came off 55 deliveries.

Jacks was determined not to let that dismissal affect how the Invincibles finished, and he combined with Sam Curran to propel them further by taking 16 off a set from David Willey. However, they struggled to keep up against some effective death bowling as only 25 runs came off the last 20 deliveries, despite one set of five in that from Stoinis going for 15. In his previous set, Stoinis gave away just five runs, while Dillon Pennington and Ben Sanderson conceded just 1 and 4 respectively.

Rockets went into the break perhaps as the happier side for the way their bowlers finished, hoping to ride that momentum in chase. Tom Banton started off by taking boundaries off Jason Beherendorff but Saqib Mahmood and Sam Curran bowled tight to keep Rockets to just 32/0 in the PowerPlay. The Invincibles went for spin from both ends in the middle and reaped dividends when Joe Root attempted to up the scoring against Sowter. The England batter found Jacks at long-on with his big hit which ended his scratchy stay of 10 from 13. Sowter bowled 10 deliveries in this set and struck two more times - cleaning up Rehan Ahmed and having Banton too caught at long-on to reduce the Rockets to 37/3.

The urgent repair work from there came through an alliance between Willey and Stoinis. The Rockets had just 51/3 at the halfway stage but were starting to make quick progress through this new batting pair. Stoinis crunched two fours of Sowter and Willey went after Adam Zampa, only to fall after hitting a six. Much to the frustration of Stoinis, who still harboured hopes of pulling off the unthinkable, the lower order couldn't quite stand tall with him in what remained of the chase.

Ross Whiteley offered the most resistance while Stoinis counter-attacked during their 38-run partnership. The chase was in an unlikely territory for the Rockets with 78 needed off 25, but the pair attempted it. They took 10 off a set from Sam Curran and then hit three sixes off his brother Tom to narrow the equation down to 48 off 15. But Mahmood came back and ran Whiteley out, leaving Stoinis with the all to do.

Sam Curran bowled three good deliveries in the penultimate set of the match, giving just three runs but Stoinis capped that off with a six and a four. Even with that, the ask was 33 off the last five, which was beyond the grasp of even Stoinis. Mahmood gave away no width and tied down the batters in the last set, completing the title win with Stoinis's wicket on the last delivery for a valiant 64 off 38.

Brief Scores: Oval Invincibles 168/5 in 100 balls (Will Jacks 72, Jordan Cox 40; Matt Carter 2/24) beat Trent Rockets 142/8 in 100 balls (Marcus Stoinis 64; Nathan Sowter 3/25, Saqib Mahmood 2/22) by 26 runs