Invincibles beat Brave in table-topping clash
Invincibles all-rounder Sam Curran won his third consecutive 'Match Hero' award
- Published
Oval Invincibles comfortably beat Southern Brave by six wickets in a table-topping clash in the men's Hundred competition at The Oval.
The two sides were level at the top of the standings going into the fixture, and the defending champions moved clear after chasing a target of 119 with 15 balls to spare.
Having been put into bat, James Vince (52) was the only player in the Brave top five to reach double figures as the visitors slipped to 31-4.
The Brave captain put on 58 for the fifth wicket with Kieron Pollard, but they were both caught behind in the space of three balls off Tom and Sam Curran respectively.
Tom Curran then struck to remove Jofra Archer and Akeal Hosein in successive balls as the visiting side finished on 118-8.
Invincibles opener Will Jacks struck the first ball of the reply for six, but he was out two balls later, caught in the covers by Vince off the bowling of Craig Overton.
Dawid Malan added a sluggish 14 from 31 balls before his dismissal brought Sam Curran to the crease to join Jordan Cox.
The pair put on 54, with Curran clubbing five sixes before he skied a catch to Tymal Mills at fine leg to end an 18-ball 35.
Invincibles captain Sam Billings was removed by Mills within four balls, but new England Test call-up Cox ended up 46 not out, while Donovan Ferreira thrashed Hosein for six to win the match.
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What else do you need to know?
With 310 runs, James Vince is the tournament's leading scorer, 140 ahead of second-placed Tom Banton, having played one game more.
Sam Curran rises into third on that list with 164, six short of Banton. His bowling figures of 2-28 in this match sees him move alongside his team-mate Adam Zampa at the top of the leading wicket-takers with 13.
Brave spinner Akeal Hosein conceded 37 runs from his 15 deliveries. Curran lashed two of his balls for six, while Cox and Ferreira also cleared the boundary off his bowling.
'He's playing with real clarity' - what they said
Invincibles all-rounder Sam Curran: "[It was a] huge win. I think [we are] the two in-form teams at the moment. We knew we had to win this game as the first-place goes straight through to Lord's [and avoids an eliminator play-off match].
"I think at the top when it's doing that much you've got to take risks. Coxy played really well to anchor the innings."
Invincibles captain Sam Billings: "All our batters have a score under them, which is really important going into the back-end of the tournament.
"Sam's just smacking it, isn't he? He's playing with real clarity at the moment.
"The last two games where we haven't had it all our own way, that's the games you take confidence from."
What is happening on Friday?
It's off to the home of cricket on Friday as London Spirit host Manchester Originals (women's 15:00 BST, men's 18:30).
It's a bottom-of-the-table clash in the men's competition with Originals propping up Spirit, while in the women's tournament the fourth-placed home side sit two places above their opponents.
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