By Huzaifa Yousafzai from Kia Oval
Oval Invincibles flexed their muscles with a convincing home win against the Southern Brave in a game that saw the “two strongest teams” come head to head.
On a night were “ball dominated bat” the Oval Invincibles made their home advantage count as they chased down 119 with six wickets and 15 balls still remaining.
Oval Invincibles all-rounder Tom Curran took 4 wickets for 24 runs in the first innings but admits that the conditions were heavily weighted towards the bowlers including those in the opposing team.
“It’s sort of been the trend of the Hundred as the wickets have done a little bit and the balls seem to swing, we have played on similar wickets which have had a bit of pace on it.”
“They have got a world class attack; an international quality bowling attack and we knew that it was going to be hard coming into this game so it’s a massive win and we’re super pleased.”
Southern Brave head coach and New Zealand legend Stephen Fleming agreed that the conditions at the Kia Oval made batting difficult and possibly less appealing for the viewers.
“It was a pretty sporting wicket, so conditions were tough and often batting first on that (pitch) it’s very difficult to assess what you’re going to need so we had to battle through that. The ball dominated bat and we probably needed an element of luck to get another 20 runs, but it was tough work out there.”
“It’s been difficult on the whole (for batters) as it’s been a little bit in the bowler’s favour which I’m not always upset about but you’ve got to make sure it’s a spectacle. I don’t think the crowd really appreciated how hard it was to bat so I feel like a nicer balance would have been good.”
Despite the difficulty for batters, Tom Curran expressed how important it was for his side to win this game and similar tight encounters going forward.
“The two strongest teams in the competition played tonight so it felt like a bit of a must win or a knockout style game as finishing first and going straight into that final is such an advantage.”
“We are winning those close games and that’s a sign of a good side. Those close games are super important to win come the back end and we have seemed to do that well lately and years before that not so much. So the proof is in the pudding, we were champions last year and hopefully the same this year.”
