Andrew Flintoff’s first game as Northern Superchargers head coach ended in defeat as they went down by 47 runs at home to Trent Rockets on Friday.
The Rockets made 185-5 in their innings after being made to bat first at Headingley, with Tom Banton leading the way after clattering 66 from 38 balls, including nine fours and one six.
Despite a fine all-round display from Ben Dwarshuis, former England captain Flintoff’s side struggled to get going in their reply as three wickets from Chris Green, to go with his cameo 25 with the bat, helped restrict them to 138-8 in their innings.
Banton and fellow opener Adam Lyth put on 44 for the first wicket before Dwarshuis dismissed the latter for 12, and Alex Hales only made six before being caught by Adam Hose off Matthew Potts.
But Banton and Sam Hain helped propel the Rockets to a challenging total from their 100 balls thanks to a third-wicket stand of 65 which was ended when Banton was trapped lbw by England seamer Potts (2-37).
Hain fell one short of his half-century as well after becoming Australian seamer Dwarshuis’ second victim as he finished with figures of 2-28 from his 20 balls, but Green – who was making his sole appearance in The Hundred – blasted 25 from just seven balls at the end of the innings.
Chasing 186 for victory, the Superchargers’ reply got off to a decent start thanks to an opening stand of 41 between Ollie Robinson (25) and Graham Clark (17).
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Trent Rockets’ Chris Green pulled off a sensational diving catch to dismiss stand-in Northern Superchargers captain Matthew Short.
After Clark was bowled by Imad Wasim, though, wickets fell at regular intervals as seamer Lewis Gregory (2-21) and spinner Green (3-14) did most of the damage.
A sparkling 40 from 20 balls, with two fours and three sixes, from No 8 Dwarshuis was a rare bright spot in the Superchargers’ innings, but ultimately the hosts were well short of their target.
Player of the match – Chris Green
“I’ve loved my time with the Rockets – short but sweet. Luckily it came off for me tonight [with the bat], and I had a lot of fun.
“I enjoyed bowling out there tonight, that was conducive to spin. We had a lot of runs to put them under pressure and that was a fun wicket to bowl on.”
What’s next?
The Hundred continues on Saturday with London Spirit facing Birmingham Phoenix in a double-header at Lord’s.
The women’s game is live on Sky Sports Mix from 2.30pm (first ball 3pm), followed by the men’s game on Sky Sports Mix from 6pm, Sky Sports Cricket from 6.30pm and Sky Sports Main Event from 7pm (first ball 6.35pm).
Sky Sports will show all 68 games in The Hundred live this summer, while you can also watch selected matches via free streams on Sky Sports’ digital platforms and Sky Sports Cricket YouTube channel.
