MO vs LS, Reviews | Josh Tongue and Sonny Baker spells ensures Originals first victory in Hundred Competition 2025
Manchester Originals beat London Spirit by 10 runs in a tight game at Old Trafford on August 11. Josh Tongue’s wicket-taking ability and Sonny Baker’s frugal spell were the key performers for the Philip Salt-led side as they won their first game of the Hundred Men’s Competition 2025.
The Manchester Orignals won the toss and elected to bat first and started the innings well. The opening duo of Originals skipper Philip Salt and Ben McKinney took the attack to the bowlers with some explosive hits. Though the 47-run stand was eventually broken by Jamie Overton, who took the wicket of McKinney in the last over of the powerplay, the Originals still looked in a solid position after 25 balls with the score reading 57/1. The wicket of the opening batter did not seem to affect the scoring rate for the Manchester franchise as Salt continued the run-flow along with Jos Buttler straight after the powerplay. Though Olly Stone had got the Originals captain in his second over of the game on a score of 31 off 20 deliveries, the hosts were still looking good at 90/2 at the halfway stage. While the conditions might have gotten tougher to bat on in the second half of the innings, Buttler, joined by Heinrich Klaasen, made sure that the run came steadily in the middle. Despite the slight break in the scoring rate, the Originals still seemed in control with the Buttler-Klaasen duo helping the team to a score of 125/2 after 75 balls. The Spirit bowlers managed to make a solid comeback in the death, which started with Klaasen and Mark Chapman getting dismissed in the space of two overs. While Klaasen managed to pick out the fielder at mid-off on the 82nd delivery by Stone, Chapman was a victim of a brilliant catch by Spirit captain Kane Williamson at covers. Buttler was dismissed in the following over by Richard Gleeson after a good-looking knock of 46 runs off 37 balls in an attempt to clear the mid-off region. With only 38 runs coming in the last 25 balls with the loss of four wickets, the Boys in Black ended their innings on a score of 163/6.
David Warner and Williamson opened the batting for the second time in the tournament but struggled to time their shots in the powerplay, being restricted to 23/0 in the first 25 balls. However, the Kiwi-Aussie duo managed to get a move on straight after the quiet start, with Warner playing the aggressor and the Spirit skipper rotating the strike at the other end. Both openers remained unbeaten halfway into the chase with the score at 73/0. While this was a great platform set by the London franchise, the runs were hard to come by in the second half as Williamson’s sluggish innings of 19 runs off 20 balls was ended by Josh Tongue. The wicket of the Kiwi legend was followed by two frugal overs by Noor Ahmad and Sonny Baker, who made sure the required rate kept rising. While the visitors did manage to get 12 runs in the next over, bowled by Scott Currie, it also cost them an important wicket of Jamie Smith, who was caught plumb in front of his stumps. With Warner being the only set batter at the crease, Spirit were in a tricky position after 75 balls with the score at 106/2, needing 58 off the last 25 balls. Though this was a challenging task, the Aussie opener still kept Spirit in the game with some crucial boundaries in the next 10 balls. Unfortunately for him, all it took was a wild delivery down the legside by Tongue, which caught a piece of his glove to end his incredible innings of 71 off 51 deliveries. The right-arm quick followed the fortunate wicket with a scalp of Sean Dickson in the space of four deliveries to complete his three-wicket haul. Baker came back for a final over, where he was finally rewarded for his economical spell with a wicket of Ashton Turner, but could not finish it well as Jamie Overton kept the chase alive with two boundaries. Currie was given the final over with 19 runs to defend off the last five deliveries and was straight away welcomed with a slice towards the third-man region, which trickled away towards the rope. Despite the poor start, the Scottish pacer kept his nerves towards the end, and the Originals managed to win their first game of the tournament by a 10-run margin.
Sonny Baker was awarded the player of the match for his economical spell of 1/21, which included 10 dot balls and a crucial wicket of Turner.
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