The spin duo at the Trent Rockets, Rashid Khan and Samit Patel, catapulted their side to the top of the men's Hundred table standings. their side registered a six-wicket victory against London Spirit at Trent Bridge.
Back after the Ireland series, Rashid Khan was at his magical best, getting three wickets for 25 runs. Patel (2 for 29) took the big wickets of Eoin Morgan 27 from 16 balls and Ben McDermott 30 from 25 as they both looked like getting big scores. Luke Wood also bowled well as the Rockets restricted Spirit for just 122 runs in their allotted hundred balls.
In the second innings, Colin Munro's unbeaten 67 from 37 balls and a supporting innings of 41 from 28 balls from Tom Kohler-Cadmore were sufficient to take the Rockets home with 21 balls remaining.
The result gave the Spirit their first loss of the season and puts the Rockets in a great position to end the season at the top of the table.
The Spirit were asked by the Rockets to Bat first, London Spirit got off to a fast start, Daniel Bell-Drummond 24 from 15 balls laced with consecutive sixes in the first set of 10. They did lose the in-form Adam Rossington very quickly but at 41 for 1 from the powerplay, they'd have taken it with both hands.
The next 25 balls would only produce 20 runs for the loss of two wickets, as the Rockets bowled to their plans. Bell-Drummond was the first to go, miscuing off the bowling of Wood. Dan Lawrence would join him soon after, clean bowled by a Khan googly, to leave the Spirit in a difficult position.
The visitors needed to rebuild quickly if they were to post a defendable total. Morgan flattered to deceive, striking two sixes in Khan's next set. But when he attempted going for a six on the 64th ball against the ever-impressive Patel, he was caught at deep midwicket, leaving the Spirit 86 for 4.
The Trump card Rashid Khan was bought into the attack, and he delivered. The Afghan bowled Kieron Pollard and Jordan Thompson in a set of five which conceded just two. Immediately thereafter, Patel would remove the set McDermott and the wickets kept falling. The London Sprit lost their last five wickets for just 27 runs.
London Spirit got off to a good start, Dismissing the Rockets top order batters early, The first was a lucky run-out of Dawid Malan.
Hales was back to the dugout sooner than the Rockets would have liked. He was caught at mid-on off the bowling of Ellis as they finished the powerplay with the score reading 33 for 2. Hales' wicket brought Kohler-Cadmore to the crease. He was in need of a big score to keep his place in the side. He put in a good partnership with Colin Munro which was 85 runs off 51 balls to get the Rockets close to the victory.
The Trent Bridge crowd would erupt in joy as Gregory whacked a six to finish the game and put his team in pole position in the league standings.
Here are some of the Tweets from the game
The Hundred: Colin Munro leads Trent Rockets to commanding win over London Spirit https://t.co/imF6K1D4Xo pic.twitter.com/GvQjWcKuh7
— World News Guru (@worldnews_guru) August 20, 2022
💫 Back in the team and back spinning his way to glory 💫
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 20, 2022
Great first 50 balls from Trent Rockets and Rashid Khan, who have restricted London Spirit to 61-3
📻 Listen on @BBCSounds and @5liveSport
📲💻 Updates and highlights on the @BBCSport app ⬇️#BBCCricket #TheHundred
Twitter was abuzz as usual, We will take a look at some of the reactions here-
REPORT | A clinical bowling display preceded a Colin Munro masterclass as Trent Rockets leapfrogged London Spirit in The Hundred group stages with a six wicket win. #TheHundred
— Nottinghamshire CCC (@TrentBridge) August 20, 2022
Afghanistan Superstar Rashid Khan picks 3 wickets as London Spirit bowled out for 122
— Extra Pace (@Extra_Pace) August 20, 2022
visit: https://t.co/4zWpH8gO4C#TheHundred2022 #TheHundred #thehundredonfancode pic.twitter.com/Tggtnpite4
London Spirit (Men) vs Trent Rockets (Men)
— Ewan Harris (@ehbeepbop) August 20, 2022
Saturday 20 Aug 2022 19:00
Rockets won by 6 wickets (with 21 balls remaining)
Opening PP: London Spirit (+8 runs)
Middle Sets: Trent Rockets (+29 runs)
Death Sets: tied#TheHundred pic.twitter.com/LXwWfwBh4f
Rashid Khan’s 3 crucial wickets against #londonspirit takes #trentrockets to top of the table @thehundred, full interview 👇🏼https://t.co/repldGdozE@rashidkhan_19 #ACA #AfghanAtalan #TheHundred pic.twitter.com/ljKJI9H5ju
— Afghan Cricket Association - ACA (@ACAUK1) August 20, 2022
6️⃣6️⃣ BANG, BANG!
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 20, 2022
Daniel Bell-Drummond gets London Spirit's innings up and running with consecutive sixes.
Spirit 36-1, 20 balls
📻 Listen on @BBCSounds and @5liveSport
📲💻 Updates and highlights on the @BBCSport app ⬇️#BBCCricket #TheHundred
✨ A dismal outing with the bat for the table-toppers, London Spirit 😐
— CricWick (@CricWick) August 20, 2022
Trent Rockets have their eyes set on the top spot 👀#CricketTwitter #TheHundred pic.twitter.com/oFoORhm8c3
✨ Complete domination by Trent Rockets 💥
— CricWick (@CricWick) August 20, 2022
Rashid, Munro, and Cadmore inflict first defeat on London Spirit in this season of The Hundred 💪#TheHundred #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/cqtArrZJim
After a series over Ireland, King Khan @rashidkhan_19 is back to @thehundred to continue his games.
— Shah Mohammad Lodin (@BeingSML) August 20, 2022
Gets three ☝ for his team #TrentRockets in today game against #LondonSpirit
🇦🇫🏏 pic.twitter.com/0x1jYzSfpI