Flintoff's Superchargers lose to Rockets
Green 'Brilliant cameo' - The Hundred's plays of the day
- Published
Andrew Flintoff suffered a heavy defeat in his first match as a head coach as his Northern Superchargers side lost to Trent Rockets by 47 runs in The Hundred men's competition at Headingley.
Rockets all-rounder Chris Green starred with bat and ball, hammering an unbeaten 25 from seven balls as the Rockets reached 185-5, before taking 3-14 and making a spectacular catch as the Superchargers limped to 138-8 in reply.
Having been put into bat, Rockets opener Tom Banton led from the front, striking 66 from 38 balls.
The visitors lost Adam Lyth and Alex Hales cheaply, but Sam Hain joined Banton and the pair put on 65 for the third wicket.
Banton fell to Matty Potts, but Hain (49 from 28) persisted alongside Rovman Powell and Green, until he was caught from the final ball of the innings.
Superchargers openers Graham Clark and Ollie Robinson started positively, reaching 41-0 before Clark was bowled by Imad Wasim with the final ball of the powerplay.
Green caught Matthew Short with a full-length dive in the deep and removed Robinson lbw, before bowling Adam Hose and having Nicholas Pooran caught by Lewis Gregory as the Superchargers fell dramatically behind the required rate.
Potts (24) and Ben Dwarshuis (40*) thrashed some boundaries to add 57 for the eighth wicket, but the game had long since ended as a contest.
Chris Green is only contracted to the Trent Rockets for one match.
What else do you need to know?
Green is only contracted to play for the Rockets for one match - he will now be replaced by Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan who has been playing in Major League Cricket in the United States.
The Superchargers also had players missing. Ben Stokes, Harry Brook and Dillon Pennington are on England duty, Mitchell Santner is with Major League Cricket and Jason Roy and Reece Topley are injured. Scotland's Michael Jones was brought in for this match only, while Nicholas Pooran flew in to score his 10 after playing his last MLC fixture in Dallas on Tuesday night.
42 of Banton's 66 runs came from boundaries as he struck nine fours and one six. Number eight Dwarshuis top-scored for the Superchargers with two fours and three sixes.
It was a day of matching names at Headingley. Brothers Graham and Jordan Clark played their first professional game on the same side for the Superchargers, while their teammate, wicketkeeper-batter Ollie Robinson, had the better of his namesake, the Rockets seamer, hitting him for a huge six over mid-wicket.
- Published17 hours ago
- Published13 hours ago
'I’m sure he’ll be back' - what they said
Rockets all-rounder Chris Green: "One game, one game only. That was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it, first time at the Hundred. Bit confusing with balls and what not but I've loved my time at the Rockets. Short but sweet and I love this competition.
"I got a tap on the shoulder from the coach to pad up a bit earlier, he said go and give it a whack and luckily tonight it came off for me. I got good info from the other batters and it was my night to have some fun at the end."
"It was conducive to spin, my goal was just try and hold the length for as long as possible, try and spin it hard and we had a lot of runs to put them under pressure."
Rockets captain Lewis Gregory: "I mean what an entrance [by Green], it's a shame that he's going to be fair after that performance. He's made an impact that’s for sure and if any vacancies open up, I’m sure he’ll be back.”
"I've played under some brilliant captains, some safe, some aggressive and you kind of try to sort of cherry pick the best bits from each and bring that into your own game and personality. I'm a person that feels like I thrive off creating a calm environment and hopefully the guys do as well.”
What is happening on Saturday?
There will be another double-header on Saturday, with London Spirit hosting Birmingham Phoenix at Lord's (women's at 15:00 BST and men's at 18:35).
The Spirit won their opening encounter against Southern Brave, but the Phoenix will be looking to bounce back from a heavy defeat to Oval Invincibles in their first match.
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