MO vs SB, Preview | Big names to feature at Old Trafford as Manchester Originals take on Southern Brave

08/06/2025

Manchester Originals will be hosting the Southern Brave in the second game of The Hundred Men's Competition 2025 at Old Trafford on Wednesday. The underachievers face off against the first season’s winner, with some iconic battles between some of the biggest icons in T20 cricket on the cards.

‌The second game of The Hundred Men's Competition 2025 is set to take place at Old Trafford, with Manchester Originals set to face the inaugural champions Southern Brave. There are some great battles to watch out for in the game, where the Originals’ powerful T20 batting lineup, which includes the likes of Phil Salt, Jos Buttler, Rachin Ravindra, and Heinrich Klaasen, will be up against the fiery pace attack of the Brave with Jofra Archer, Tymal Mills, and Chris Jordan in their squad.

The Manchester franchise has been one of the underachieving teams in the tournament, with a mix of good and bad seasons. Though they finished in the bottom half of the table in the first season, they managed to come back as the finalists in the next two seasons. However, they will be disappointed after their performance in the last season, where they finished seventh on the points table with one win and seven losses. Their highest run-getter in the league is Salt, who was also their only silver lining in their abysmal 2024 season, and their highest wicket-taker is left-arm spinner Tom Hartley.

Southern Brave, on the other hand, have been one of the successful sides in the tournament, having been victorious in the first season where they beat the Birmingham Phoenix in the final by 32 runs on the back of an amazing half-century by Paul Stirling. The team possesses some big stars in their squad, including skipper James Vince, who is the tournament's highest run getter, and Tymal Mills, who is leading the charts in the wickets column. However, they have not been able to recreate the first season’s triumph, having finished 7th in the following season and third in 2023 after losing the eliminator against the Originals. Though they made it to their second final last year, their title hopes were ended by the Invincibles. They will be hoping to get their hands on the trophy in the ongoing fifth season.

Form Guide

Manchester Originals' recent form in T20s has been struggling, winning only one game in their last five encounters.

Southern Brave have also lacked consistency in their last five ventures, with two wins and two losses.

Manchester Originals: L L W L L

Southern Brave: L W NR W L

Manchester Originals vs Southern Brave Head-to-Head in T20s

The head-to-head battle between the two sides is even, with both teams winning two games each in the five games they have featured in, with one game ending in a no result.

Manchester Originals 2 - 2 Southern Brave

Pitch and Weather

The surface at Old Trafford has been known to assist the pacers a lot with an abundance of bounce and seam movement and tends to get slower as the game progresses, making it an ideal batting first wicket. This is also the reason why the team defending has won 76 matches, and the team chasing has won 65 out of the 149 T20 games that have been played at the venue.

The weather is expected to be cool and breezy in Manchester, with the temperature being around 16-17 degrees celsius. Though there might be a bit of cloud cover, the chances for rain are minimal.

Team News

The probable key players in the top order for the Manchester Originals will be Salt, Ravindra, and Buttler. The likes of Heinrich Klaasen, Lewis Gregory, and Scott Currie are expected picks in the lineup as they can add a lot of depth to the eleven. Speaking of the bowling, while Noor Ahmad and Tom Hartley will be the probable first-choice spinners, the team might also introduce legendary pacer James Anderson, who is probably going to make his debut in the Hundred.

Southern Brave have some powerful batters and some great pacers in their lineup. While the expected key batters in the team would be Finn Allen, James Vince, and Michael Bracewell. Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, and Tymal Mills might be the first choice specialist bowlers in the playing XI.

Manchester Originals Probable XI: Phil Salt (c), Rachin Ravindra, Jos Buttler(wk), Ben McKinney, Matty Hurst, Lewis Gregory, Heinrich Klaasen, Scott Currie, Tom Hartley, Noor Ahmad, Josh Tongue, James Anderson

Southern Brave Probable XI: Finn Allen (wk), James Vince (c), Jason Roy, Laurie Evans, Hilton Cartwright, Leus du Plooy, Michael Bracewell, Craig Overton, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Tymal Mills.

Broadcasting Platforms

The second game of the Hundred Men’s Competition 2025 between Manchester Originals and Southern Brave will be digitally streamed on the Fancode and Sony Liv apps and websites and broadcast live on the Sony Sports Network at 11 PM IST.