Dane van Niekerk hits the winning runs in the opening match of the women’s tournament
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Related: The Hundred: not cricket as we know it, but nothing for sceptics to fear
Related: Oval Invincibles edge Manchester Originals in thrilling Hundred opener
The sky is now black over The Oval, and the crowd is drifting away. I think that counts as a win. It wasn’t perfection- some dodgy fielding here and there - but a good enough crowd full of kids, nice vibes, and a game that went down to the final
over five. Time to haul my sweaty legs off the sofa - thanks for all your emails and tweets - sorry I haven’t had time to get to them all. Tim de Lisle will be here tomorrow night for the men’s version of today’s game at 18.30 BST. Good night!
And more: “Ooops so T20 after all, with 5 ball overs,” says JMH. “Can’t see the differentiation apart from the overt commercialisation and the terrible, garish, on screen graphics. The actual cricket was fine...the format every bit as dire as expected.”
I struggled with the graphics too, but my kids loved them. I think that counts as a marketing win.
You did email me! A couple of thoughts:
“I’m quite enjoying the cricket, it’s turned into a decent match.” writes Craig Foley. “My wife is sitting next to me completely nonplussed by it all though which is probably not what the marketing folks had in mind.” I reckon the market gurus allowed for a few outliers!
And the Hero of the match is Dane van Niekerk. She says, “It was great to have so many coming out to support this inititaive. The fans pushed us over the line. One of the top moments of my career so far. Personally I panicked a little bit, I thought we were behind the eight-ball a little bit.” Something nice about Kapp and Villiers, then “ I thought it wasn’t the easiest wicket to bat on but if you played really good cricket shots you could do it. All the bowlers got stuck in”
The crowd was a record for a women’s domestic match in England.
98 balls: Invincibles 139-5 (Villiers 16, Van Niekerk 56) Villiers slams four then a jubilant van Niekek sends a flying edge down past deep third. A dream start for the Invincibles and a dream start for The Hundred!
95 balls: Invincibles 130-5 (Villiers 11, Van Niekerk 52) Ecclestone starts with a wide -or is it a stumping? no just the wide. Then Maddie Villiers: up, up and over! Dancing down the pitch and up into the fuschia sky. Six needed off the last five and it is going to be captain Kate Cross! Dream finish.
90 balls: Invincibles 120-5 (Villiers 4, Van Niekerk 50) Cross plumps for Hartley, and it nearly pays off but van Niekerk is dropped at backward square - it’s a cover your eyes moment. Then van Niekerk booms her for four through extra-cover. A handful of singles. A marvellous fifty for Van Niekerk. Sixteen needed off ten balls.
85 balls: Invincibles 112-5 (Villiers 3, Van Niekerk 44) Relatively expensive from Ecclestone, 10 runs, but a key wicket. Kapp goes the ball after swatting Ecclestone for a huge six. A wide too: don’t mess with Sue.
A sharp piece of work behind the stumps by Threlkeld.
80 balls: Invincibles 101-4 (Kapp 31, Van Niekerk 39) Van Niekerk reverse-sweeps Emma Lamb’s first ball for four, then it’s tip and run.
I disagree with this from Ian Naylor, for a start it is not a fair description. I agree that the men’s game would have had a bigger crowd - I believe its a sell-out for tomorrow’s game. But starting a competition with a women’s game is just such an amazing statement. It shows such trust. I’ve never seen it in my 48 years. A gamble , but I think they’ve just about pulled it off?
Given this thing has been developed by marketing people & focus groups. Seems a mistake to open with women. They wanted fast paced ball flying everywhere game
Instead it's the Sunday Vets after a night on the ale hardly able to run to the crease to bowl the ball
75 balls: Invincibles 94-4 (Kapp 31, Van Niekerk 39) One, two, no ball, dot, one. Cross on the money again.
@tjaldred reading all the negative comments about the format is making me think the organisers had me in mind and no one else, because I'm loving it. Those 40 fewer balls make this almost the perfect length.
70 balls: Invincibles 88-4 (Kapp 29, Van Niekerk 36) Kaur has another bowl and it is not her night in the field.Kapp has a swipe and Du Preez misjudges, leaps in the air and escorts the ball over the rope for six! 48 needed off 30.
65 balls: Invincibles 78-4 (Kapp 20, Van Niekerk 305 At mid-on Harmanpreet inexplicably drops a catch off JAckson’s second ball, Van Niekerk punishes her with a lofted drive for four.
Rob Grey thinks the presentation has a bit to learn: “Getting used to the format, can see that the overall package may be more accessible, but the presentation lacks any data equivalent to required run rate. A two axis graph of runs/balls could be used to map the two teams perhaps, I’ve not even seen an equivalent of Manchester at the same stage of their innings yet. Without this I think there is a major gap in presentation currently.”
60 balls: Invincibles 72-4 (Kapp 19, Van Niekerk 30) Kapp pulls an eat-me ball from Lamb powerfully for four. Just another four singles.
55 balls: Invincibles 64-4 (Kapp 13, Van Niekerk 28) Hartley is parcelled through cover for four by Kapp, but then pulls it back and only goes for antoher two. The win predictor is 18 Invincibles: 82 Originals.
50 balls: Invincibles 58-4 (Kapp 8, Van Niekerk 28) Kapp smears a low full toss square for four.
An email wings its way over from Iceland. Hi Sigga!
45 balls: Invincibles 52-4 (Kapp 3, Van Niekerk 26) Ecclestone shows why she’s rated so highly, turns the screw and they can’t get her away. She’s now bowled ten balls for two runs. Cross whips her off now though, saving her for the end.
40 balls: Invincibles 51-4 (Kapp 2, Van Niekerk 26) Not Harmanpreet’s best piece of work: slammed for two fours by Van Niekerk, pulled with power.
35 balls: Invincibles 41-4 (Kapp 1, Van Niekerk 17) Cross has the swagger tonight, but Van Niekerk isn’t going without a fight, cutting her down past a
flailing diving Alex Hartley at third.
Lamb in the action again, catching by her ankles at short mid-wicket. As for Kate Cross -3 wickets for not much - she’s living the dream.
30 balls: Invincibles 35-3 (Adams 12, Van Niekerk 12) Hartley’s back, and van Niekerk slam-damns her over long on.
David Wall taps: “i’m not sure about the format (i don’t see why they couldn’t have added the pops and whistles to a new T20 contest, called it the ‘120’, and saved all the animosity). but i liked the snark in the explanation of DRS. Were the Premier League watching?” Ha! And yes, I agree, but the 120 wasn’t the marketing dream.
25 balls: Invincibles 26-3 (Adams 11, Van Niekerk 4) Ten from Lamb’s over, including a grass-kissing snorter of a four from Adams.
20 balls: Invincibles 16-3 (Adams 2, Van Niekerk 4) A superb over from Jackson, one of Manchester’s non-contracted players. Doesn’t bleed a run until her last ball which van Niekerk sends spinning through cover for four.
With her very first ball! And a superb leaping pas-de-chat from Harmanpreetat mid-off.
15 balls: Invincibles 12-2 (Adams 2, Wilson 4) It’s Sophie Ecclestone, the best spinner in the world. Adams can’t get her away, four dots and single. Cross rotating her bowlers with aplomb and its going to be Laura Jackson.
10 balls: Invincibles11-2 (Adams 1, Wilson 4) Wilson greets the hat-trick ball with a dabble down to fine leg for four. Nicely done.
Tries to nudge her into the on side and loses her stumps! Hat-trick ball!
Capsey wriggles to the right, goes for the scoop and sends it straight to the keeper. Makes the grim-faced walk back.
5 balls: Invincibles 5 -0 (Adams 1, Capsey 4) Georgia Adams, daughter of Chris, and Alex Hartley, 16 and waiting for her GCSE results march out. Capsey biffs her first ball straight back over bowler Alex Hartley’s head and for four. You go girl!
More from Raf:“There’s a brilliant atmosphere. Feels like a party. Never seen The Oval like this for a women’s game.”
I think we’re about to restart. The official attendance is 7,395 -(10,000 turned up for the first T20 at The Oval for comparison) and Becky Hill in a sequinned tangerine mini-dress belting out a hit from the stage. The players are dancing and look like they’re having a ball.
Hello Abhijato Sensarma! “So all it took Harmanpreet Kaur to rediscover her long-lost form was playing in the inaugural match of a completely new cricketing format! Who could have known :’)“
“Hi Tanya,” Hi Sam!
“Picture you’re a 7 or 8 year old. You’ve only got 3 or 4 keys points of information on the screen to look at - how many runs, how many balls and how many wickets. Fun for the old fans, easy for the new fans. Perfect. Just what it needed to be.
Can’t wait to go to Old Trafford on Sunday!”
100 balls: Originals 135-6 (Cross 12, Griffith 2) An eventful final five as Ecclestone misses a swipe, makes contact the next ball, hitting over long-on, before she was beaten going for another. Griffiths does well to shovel two from her one and only ball! So that’s 136 to win for the Invincibles: could be a challenge... but frankly I’ve no idea! Back very shortly.
Smart! Ecclestone shuffles out of her crease to a why-not slog and her bails are smartly whipped off.
95 balls: Originals 126-5 (Cross 11, Ecclestone 4) We have a six! The first of the Hundred as Kate Cross swings the bat and the ball sails over Farrant’s head. She’d done something similar earlier in the over, but without the elevation. Nicely done!
90 balls: Originals 113-5 (Cross 0, Ecclestone 2) They need another 20 if they can from these last ten balls. Let’s see what the captain can do.
Smash the rat, Du Preez pans the ball but without the muscle, straight to Villiers.
85 balls: Originals 108-4 (Du Preez 7, Ecclestone 0) Ladies and gentlemen, we have our first time out! The coach comes out in his face mask - don’t forget the pandemic in all the fun - and they huddle. There was one four, a full on welly to the boundary from Du Preez.
A dinky sweep to short fine leg
80 balls: Originals 103-3 (Du Preez 2, Harmanpreet 29) Dani Gregory, long dark plaits, Heidi plays cricket. And she’s good, Kaur can’t get her away until the last which she glides down to third man and the fielder can’t stop it getting over the rope. Tasty shot.
75 balls: Originals 98-3 (Du Preez 1, Harmanpreet 24) A big wicket, and just a couple of singles. I’d have thought they’d want 130 from the 100.
Lee has a getting-towards-the-last-chapter swing ,and is caught at cover.
70 balls: Originals 96-2 (Lee 42, Harmanpreet 24) Pure class! Harmanpreet suddenly flicks on the international light: four fours: through long-off, fine leg, the covers, and the best of all, with the fastest bat in the west, through the offside. Villiers is not amused.
65 balls: Originals 80-2 (Lee 42, Harmanpreet 8) When is the big over going to come. Assuming the big over is going to come? It should do with Lee and Harmanpreet Kaur at the crease. Self-restraint the name of the game here, just five singles.
An email! from Ray Kiely. “If it’s any consolation Tanya, I’m self-isolating too.” Damn, Ray, poor you. Hope you’re feeling ok.
60 balls: Originals 75-2 (Lee 39, Harmanpreet 6) Kaur picks up her first boundary with a beautifully timed sweep, down on one knee and with a ear-pleasing clump of bat on ball. The skeleton of the gasometer watches emotionlessly.
55 balls: Originals 68-2 (Lee 37, Harmanpreet 1) Lee swivel pulls with delicacy, pinging Ismail to the boundary. Ismail sends a shorter one which Lee flays at but misses and that’s called wide. Redfern is in strict mood.
50 balls: Originals 59-2 (Lee 30, Harmanpreet 0) A dib-dab of singles, a wicket, and we’re half way through the first innings.
Positive feedback!
@tjaldred my first thoughts on "the hundred" are this might get me back into cricket. So far so good.
Keeping Villiers on for the second set of five does the business, as Boyce rattles down the pitch but can only send the ball to extra-cover when Adams takes a super catch.
45 balls: Originals 57-1 (Lee 29, Boyce 20) Spin has worked well, and they stick with it, but this time it is Villiers, England’s offspinner. She sends it leg side and Lee doesn’t need asking, down on her front knee and tickles it down to fine leg.
40 balls: Originals 51-1 (Lee 24, Boyce 20) Van Niekerk continues with her second set of five and nicely does it until she tosses one into the July sky and Lee batters is straight and fast.
35 balls: Originals 44-1 (Lee 17, Boyce 18) It’s Van Niekerk, who looks like she’s having a ball, and she sends down five very neat balls to her South African teammate.
30 balls: Originals 44-1 (Lee 17, Boyce 18) I think they need to sort this scorecard out - why are the runs on one side of the screen and the wickets on the other. Some of us are peri-menopausal and this sort of thing can make us ANGRY. Anyway, Boyce is batting beautifully, sending Ismail screaming through extra cover for four.
25 balls: Originals 36-1 (Lee 16, Boyce 13) Boyce hoops Kapp down the ground, then Kapp overpitches and Boyce pulls her gloriously square to the delight of what looks like many little girls in the crowd. And that’s the end of the power play.
20 balls: Originals 26-1 (Lee 116 Boyce 3) It’s Ismail, sending them down at a nippy 70mph. Lee monsters it square. The next passes over the top of her head as she attempts to pull and there is some confusion over whether there is a free hit or not. Suzanne Redfern eventually says no.
“Hi Tanya, bewilderedpenguin here,”. Hello stranger!
15 balls: Originals 14-1 (Lee 11, Boyce 2) A boundary! The first of the Hundred, as Lee, standing out of the crease, shovels it through mid-wicket. And another, through the covers. Farrant flattens down her ponytail. And this time we’re going to have a change after 5 balls as Ismail takes over at the Vauxhall end.
10 balls: Originals 5-1 (Lee 3, Boyce 1) A quiet start for the Originals.
Her face, just look at her face. Emma Lamb walks out to open the batting for Manchester Originals in #TheHundred and sees the fireworks. That was as good as it got for her, alas @tjaldred pic.twitter.com/mSh1s4l3RJ
Cuts behind but Tim Robinson doesn’t hear it. They review and he has to reverse his decision.
5 balls: Originals 4-0 (Lee 3, Lamb 0) . Kapp is going to bowl the first ball of The Hundred and it is .. a wide. Lee lets the second pass by peacefully - Lizelle did you read the memo? She plays and misses at the third, and the fourth, but picks up three singles. Tim Robinson picks up the white card for the end of the first five. A good five, says Nasser. And I’m totally thrown by the scorecard.
The Oval Invincibles in spearmint green have just walked out through their tunnel. And here comes the slightly terrifying Lizelle Lee and the in form Emma Lamb. And we have fireworks!
Where are my emails Guardianistas?
More from Raf: “The crowd has built up substantially in the last twenty minutes. Apparently lots of people are still walking down from Vauxhall tube station too.”
Rob Key is introducing an avatar of Maddie Villiers, nervously. But he does have bright shiny trainers on.
Sorry about the wait there, the BBC forgot to tell us who was in the Manchester Originals squad.
Lizelle Lee, Emma Lamb, Georgie Boyce, Harmanpreet Kaur, Mignon du Preez, Sophie Ecclestone, Kate Cross (c), Cordelia Griffith, Ellie Threlkeld (wk), Laura Jackson, Alex Hartley
Adams, Capsey, Wilson, van Niekerk, Kapp, Bryce, Farrant, Villiers, Gibbs, Ismail, Gregory.
Raf reports that there are lots of families at The Oval and definitely not a boozy vibe at the moment.
The Originals Kate Cross says she wants to have a bat because she doesn’t know what a big score is so they’d like to have a go. The Invincibles Dane Van Niekerk would have had a bowl, so everyone is happy.
My kids watched the opening credits with their hands over their eyes, but one asked if there was a Hundred Xbox game - so I’ll call that a score draw. Nasser Hussain’s concession to modernity is a polo shirt.
@tjaldred what's the vibe like there with people drinking? Nothing wrong with a few beers of course, but keeping the booze facotor sensible is going to play a big part in whether The Hundred achieves its family friendly goals imho. Enjoy the game!
Hi Matthew! I’m not at The Oval so I can’t give you an on-the-spot report, but I agree that quite alot depends on the booze factor.
100 balls per side (you knew that, right?).
Every ten balls, the bowling changes ends.
Our reporter on the scene, Raf Nicholson, rings in: “It’s very noisy but there aren’t that many people here. To be honest, it still looks very empty, there can’t be more than a few hundred people in their seats.
“They were clearly expecting loads of people, when I walked around the ground earlier there were plenty of stewards, even police - which I’ve never seen at a women’s game before. It is very hot, quite humid and the heat is probably going to stay in the day for quite a long time. I was told that 15,000 tickets had changed hands, which would be huge, but this is nothing like that at the moment.”
You can follow Oval Invincibles v Manchester Originals on BBC2 and Sky from 6pm, and on Radio 5 Live from 6.15pm.
What is this? Why are we here? Where are we going? Answers to these and more will be yours if you hang around for the FIRST Hundred game, between Oval Invincibles and Manchester Originals.
After years of preparation, a pandemic and a pingdemic, this is it. Most people came up with an opinion on the competition when it was first announced in April 2018, and have spent the consequent months and years further embedding their concrete boots.
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