Jos Buttler’s injury absence was felt hard by Manchester Originals as they sunk to the third-lowest men’s score in The Hundred and an eight-wicket defeat to Welsh Fire at Emirates Old Trafford.
England white-ball captain Buttler is awaiting the results of a scan on his calf and while he has not been ruled out of the tournament as of yet, he did miss out on Thursday night as Originals slumped to 4-3 and 37-7 before posting a lowly 86-8.
Fire cantered to their target in 57 balls with Jonny Bairstow – recently dropped from England’s Test team – making 18 from 10 balls at the top of the order and Joe Clarke cracking 33 not out from 24 deliveries.
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Fire’s David Willey took a trio of early wickets as Originals slumped to 4-3
Phil Salt, standing in for Buttler as Originals skipper, was out for a duck to the second ball of the match, caught at cover off former England all-rounder David Willey, who then dismissed Max Holden (2) and Paul Walter (0) from the 14th and 15th deliveries of the game respectively en route to figures of 3-14 from 20 balls.
The lowest men’s score in The Hundred is the 75 Birmingham Phoenix were shot out for by Originals at Edgbaston in 2022 and Originals – beaten finalists in the previous two years – scrambled past that thanks to contributions from Jamie Overton (23 off 25) and Scott Currie (26no off 25).
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Watch Glenn Philips’ incredible attempt at taking a catch on the boundary during Fire vs Originals in Manchester
But that total did not tax Fire, who registered the largest victory margin in terms of deliveries remaining in the history of the men’s competition, eclipsing the 41 balls that were left when they were thrashed by Southern Brave last August.
Fire’s win was teed up by the bowlers, with Willey supported by fellow left-armers Josh Little (2-21) – who had only recently arrived in the country after playing Major League Cricket in Dallas – and David Payne (1-11), plus leg-spinner Mason Crane (1-19) and right-arm seamer Jake Ball (1-20).
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There was chaos from the final ball of the Originals innings as Fire failed to complete a run out
What’s next?
The Hundred continues on Friday as Northern Superchargers take on Trent Rockets at Headingley.
The women’s match (2.30pm on air, 3pm first ball) is live on Sky Sports Mix and via free live stream on skysports.com, the Sky Sports app and on the Sky Sports Cricket YouTube channel.
The men’s match, which will be the first in charge for Superchargers head coach Andrew Flintoff, is live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event from 6.30pm with the first ball at 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.