Chris Green’s Stellar Performance Propels Trent Rockets to 47 Runs Victory Over Northern Superchargers
Chris Green gave an all-around masterclass as he guided the Trent Rockets to a 47-run victory over the Northern Superchargers in front of a crowded stadium at Headingley.
When the Rockets were asked to bat first, their openers had full control of the powerplay, scoring 44 runs, until Adam Lyth misplayed a drive, giving Ben Dwarshuis his first wicket. Australian players destroy Flintoff’s coaching debut with a one-off cameo on the field, with the bat, and with the ball.
Northern Superchargers 138 for 8 (Dwarshuis 40*, Green 3-14) lost to Trent Rockets 185 for 5 (Banton 66, Hain 49) by 47 runs.
After being left out of the England Test XI, Matthew Potts hotfooted it from Edgbaston and rushed up Alex Hales, who was superbly held by Adam Hose on the long-on boundary.
After that, Sam Hain and Tom Banton engaged in an intense match against the spin twins of the Superchargers, Adil Rashid and Callum Parkinson, with Banton winning the exchanges to score a sophisticated fifty off of just 27 balls.
At 66, Potts speared in a stunning yorker to remove Banton, finally slowing their momentum. Banton and Hain had combined for 65 off of just 36 balls.
Hain scored 49 (28) thanks to his combination of conventional and innovative strokes, while Green’s incredible seven-ball 25 (which included three sixes) sent the Rockets reeling to 185, their third-highest total in the competition’s history.
Ollie Robinson and Graham Clark responded by hitting six fours and a six during the powerplay, but the floodgates opened when Clark was clean bowled for 17(12) by Imad Wasim.
Robinson was pinned in front by a Green off-break, Superchargers captain Short was brilliantly caught by a diving Green at long-on, and after Green took out Hose and Nicholas Pooran, the Superchargers were stuck on 62 for 5.
A brilliant run-out of Clark completed Green’s flawless evening, as the Rockets prevailed handily despite some ferocious late-order hitting from Potts and Dwarshuis.
“That was a lot of fun, my first taste of The Hundred,” said Green, who will be heading back to Australia following the game, as the Meerkat Match Hero. Brief but sweet! I was instructed to take a swing at it, and fortunate for me, that happened to be my night to enjoy myself with the bat. The other hitters who’d done a terrific job up top gave me some fantastic information.
“It was fun to bowl there tonight; the conditions were good for spin. I observed that you could apply pressure to the batters by holding your length as long as you could and spinning it vigorously.
“I’ve only been here for five days, and sadly, today is my last. I want to say how wonderful the Trent Rockets staff has been and how much I hope they have for the rest of the tournament. They should make a strong team, in my opinion.”
