Rashid Khan’s Four-Wicket Haul and Alex Hales’ 68 Propel Trent Rockets to Victory

Key Performances and Match Results

London Spirit 144 (Critchley 37, Jennings 31, Rashid 4-24) lost to Trent Rockets 166 for 4 (Hales 68, Banton 36, Root 32) by 22 runs.

With the exception of a few huge hits from Andre Russell, the 35-year-old T20 World Cup winner cleared the boundaries five times in a very strong 68 from 42 balls before Rashid Khan took three wickets in his opening six deliveries to virtually end the game.

Playing against the greatest in the world is what makes this game so amazing, Rashid remarked of his duel with Russell. “The most important thing was pitching the ball in the areas I wanted to,” he continued. Russell is one of the good batters, and I always like competing with him.”

Hales was supported hard by Tom Banton and Joe Root as the Rockets, who had lost their previous two games due to poor run chases, amassed 166 for 4.

Hales, who had not scored more than 38 in his previous 11 innings of play, finally settled into a groove as the Rockets amassed 93 runs off of the second fifty balls of their innings. The one moment of worry came when Nathan Ellis’ beamer momentarily took Hales out of the game.

Banton struck for 36 off of 25 balls to establish the tone, while Root’s seasoned experience insured that the innings would end on a high note with 32 off of 23 balls. Then, Afghanistan’s Rashid, a legspinner, made an instant impression with the ball on his way to 4 for 24.

Spirit captain Dan Lawrence’s early attempt to attack Rashid backfired, as he was able to pick out Rovman Powell on the rope from his second ball, and Shimron Hetmyer was declared leg before wicket after a review from his third.

Keaton Jennings blasted 31 from 18 only to put his usually dependable reverse sweep into Banton’s palms, but Rashid once again displayed the game-changing abilities that have elevated him to the top of white-ball events worldwide.

In response, Russell sent Rashid flying out of Trent Bridge with a massive six that raised the 10,564 spectators to their feet. Another huge blow was delivered by the Jamaican all-rounder to the stands, forcing John Turner to be substituted out of the assault after a second beamer struck Russell.

But Luke Wood produced a slow ball that kept low and found Russell off stump just as the hosts were beginning to feel the pressure.

With only one win from their five games, Spirit’s chances of making it to the knockout stage were all but gone despite some late hitting from Matt Critchley, who finished with 37 from 30 balls. Sam Cook closed him down, leaving too much to do.