Player Of The Match
25* (7) & 3/14
Australian stars with bat, ball and in the field in one-off appearance to ruin Flintoff coaching debut
Chris Green struck important blows • PA Photos/Getty Images
Trent Rockets 185 for 5 (Banton 66, Hain 49) beat Northern Superchargers 138 for 8 (Dwarshuis 40*, Green 3-14) by 47 runs
An immense all-round performance by Australian star Chris Green propelled Trent Rockets to a commanding 47-run victory against Northern Superchargers at a packed Headingley.
Asked to bat first, the Rockets’ openers dominated the powerplay, putting on 44 before Adam Lyth mis-timed a drive to give Ben Dwarshuis his first wicket.
Matthew Potts, hotfooting it from Edgbaston having been left out of the England Test XI, then hurried up Alex Hales, who was well caught by Adam Hose on the long-on boundary.
Thereafter Sam Hain joined Tom Banton and they played out a compelling duel with the Superchargers’ spin twins, Adil Rashid and Callum Parkinson, Banton edging the exchanges to reach a classy fifty from just 27 balls.
Potts finally checked their progress, spearing in a brilliant yorker to remove Banton on 66, the Banton-Hain partnership having yielded 65 from just 36 balls.
Hain’s mix of orthodoxy and invention brought him 49 (28), and it was Green’s magical seven-ball 25 – featuring three sixes – that blasted the Rockets up to 185, their third-highest score in the competition’s history.
In reply Ollie Robinson and Graham Clark plundered six fours and a six inside the powerplay but when Clark was clean bowled for 17 (12) by Imad Wasim, the floodgates opened.
Superchargers skipper Short was magnificently caught by a diving Green at long-on, Robinson was trapped in front by a Green off-break, and when Green removed Hose and Nicholas Pooran, the Superchargers were languishing on 62 for 5.
Green’s perfect night was made complete with a smart run-out of Clark, and despite some spirited late-order hitting from Potts and Dwarshuis, the Rockets ran out comfortable winners.
Green, who returns to Australia after the game, was the Meerkat Match Hero: “That was a lot of fun, my first taste of The Hundred. Short and sweet! I was told to go out and give it a whack and luckily it was my night to have some fun with the bat. I got good info from the other batters who’d done a great job up top.
“I enjoyed bowling out there tonight, it was conducive to spin. I saw that if you hold your length for as long as possible and spin it hard you could put the batters under pressure.
“I’ve only been here for five days and unfortunately this is my last day, but the staff at Trent Rockets have been fantastic and I wish them all the best for the remainder of the tournament. I think they’re going to be a good team.”
Instant answers to T20 questions
