In a thrilling match at Headingley in The Hundred, the Northern Superchargers secured a 14-run victory over the Manchester Originals, thanks to some superb performances from both teams. Despite Matty Hurst’s impressive knock of 78 runs from just 45 balls, the visitors failed to capitalize on a strong platform laid by their openers.
The Superchargers, led by Harry Brook, made it two wins out of two against the Originals in the northern derbies. It was a day to remember for the home side, with Hollie Armitage’s team also tasting victory earlier in the day.
The Originals won the toss and elected to bowl first, a decision that seemed to be the right one given the rainy conditions and dark clouds hovering overhead. The Superchargers got off to a slow start, losing a wicket on the very first ball of the match to Fazalhaq Farooqi.
However, Graham Clark and captain Harry Brook steadied the ship with a solid 50-run partnership. Brook, in particular, was in explosive form, smashing 58 runs off just 33 balls before being caught out by Scott Currie at mid-off.
Despite a strong showing in the middle overs, the Originals fought back admirably at the death to restrict the Superchargers to 167 for 5.
In response, the Originals’ openers, Phil Salt and Matty Hurst, got their team off to a flying start with an impressive 90-run partnership. Salt contributed 40 runs from 27 balls, but it was Hurst who stole the show with his blazing innings of 78 runs from 45 deliveries.
However, after the departure of Hurst, the Originals suffered a collapse, going from 90 for 1 to 128 for 4 due to some crucial run-outs and the bowling of Mitchell Santner, who finished with figures of 2-23. With Hurst’s dismissal, the Originals needed 29 runs from 13 balls, but they fell short of the target, leaving them at the bottom of the table while the Superchargers climbed up to third place.
After the match, Superchargers skipper Harry Brook reflected on the team’s performance, stating, “I felt like they were the favourites coming out of the powerplay, but we bowled unbelievably well at the death to get the win. We didn’t have the batting powerplay that we wanted, but we stuck to our task.”
Brook continued, “The outfield is so quick here that I didn’t feel like I needed to hit many balls in the air, so I was just trying to pierce the gaps and it worked. I was just trying to stay in until the end, so I could put pressure on them at the end. I felt good at the start and thankfully I hit a few gaps.”
He also praised his bowlers, saying, “We’ve always got a take-wickets mentality, but we obviously had to think about that a bit more when we didn’t get a wicket in powerplay, and they were 90 without loss. So, I tossed the ball to Adil Rashid and Mitch Santner, and they did a really good job in getting some crucial wickets that helped us get the win.”
Overall, it was a thrilling encounter between two talented teams, but in the end, it was the Northern Superchargers who emerged victorious, consolidating their position in the competition.
