Manchester Originals completed a dramatic two run victory on Saturday against the Oval Invincibles as Barbadian Deandra Dottin held her nerve at a sun drenched Kia Oval.
Bowling her right arm medium pace Dottin had thirteen runs in the bank when she started the last set of five. Two balls later, bowling to new batter Paige Scholfield, she still had 11 and all seemed well under control. After the next ball went for six the game was very much in the balance.
Scholfield then scored a single, to leave the stage for arguably The Hundred’s best ever player Marizanne Kapp to grab the glory once again.
A low full toss on leg stump cramped Kapp for room and she could only manage a single. The Manchester Originals had won by 2 runs and secured their first win of this season’s edition of The Hundred.
“It’s good to win games like these but it’s not good for the heart. But it’s also good to know that you can come back and win them” said Dottin.
Dottin missed The Hundred in 2024 for the first time after playing for the London Spirit in 2021 before joining the Manchester Originals in 2022. “I absolutely love playing in England and its really good to be back” said Dottin after the match.
Put into bat the Manchester Original’s innings was built on Australian opening batter Beth Mooney who hit 70 off 45 balls with 10 4s including some trademark cover drives. Fellow opener Katryn Bryce made a breezy 24 of 18 balls. Kapp bowled with her usual accuracy taking 2-22 off her allocation to restrict the visitors in the powerplay (28/1).
A final tally of 139/6 could have been more in the opinion of Dottin. “The pitch was a belter. I thought we should have got more runs” said Dottin.
The Oval side batted with noticeably more intent in their power play scoring 42/0 thanks to skipper Lauren Winfield Hill striking 33 of 25 balls in partnership with former Australian captain Meg Lanning. But gradually this advantage ebbed away and in my conversation with Winfield Hill after the game she recognised the key roles played by international spinners Sophie Ecclestone (1/18) and Melie Kerr (1/22) who bowled their full allocations for 40 runs.
By halfway it was nip and tuck 68/1 Originals, 66/1 Invincibles. The in-form Lanning held the innings together with 56 off 42 balls although she did fail to score off 17 deliveries. Alice Capsey (17) and Kapp (19) made brief cameos, but for once in the tournament she loves Kapp couldn’t see the home side to victory.
“We are not used to losing two on the bounce so It will be a character test for the team” said Oval Invincibles skipper Lauren Winfield Hill. But she did think the overall strength of this year’s playing squads still gave them a chance to bounce back.
The home side, one of the tournament favourites, have now lost their opening two games after losing in The Hundred’s opening match against defending champions London Spirit. “I think we got 70% right first time and 85% today so we are not that far away,” said Winfield Hill.
People have told me about the atmosphere at The Oval, and I could feel that this afternoon. It is without doubt the best. On a sunny day in South London with a crowd of 13,675 you can’t get much better than 4 to win with one ball remaining and Marizanne Kapp at the crease facing Deandre Dottin, who admitted to being nervous after the game. On this occasion Dottin was the winner but the real winner today in game 5 of the 2025 edition of The Hundred was Women’s cricket
Player of the match – Beth Mooney for her stylish 70 but I would give a special mention to the two international spinners Sophie Ecclestone and Melie Kerr, who like Mooney will no doubt continue to have an impact in this year’s Hundred.
Manchester Originals (139/6 beat Oval Invincibles (137/3) by 2 runs
Stephen Wallis