Manchester Super Giants beat Sunrisers Leeds by 10 wickets at Old Trafford
Manchester Super Giants defeated Sunrisers Leeds by 10 wickets at Old Trafford in The Hundred men's competition on Tuesday, completing a 128-0 chase in 67 balls with 33 balls to spare after the visitors were dismissed for 127.
Tim Seifert finished unbeaten on 80 off 40 balls and Paul Walter made 44 not out off 28 as the Super Giants reached the modest target without losing a wicket, denying Sunrisers an automatic place in the final and strengthening their own bid for the knockout stages.
Sunrisers, asked to bat first, posted 127 from their 100 allotted balls; Mitch Marsh top-scored with 32 off 23 but Noor Ahmad had him caught at extra cover and the middle order faltered, leaving the visitors with their lowest total in this year's edition and nine of their wickets falling to catches.
Gus Atkinson claimed the best bowling figures for the Super Giants with 3-30, while Sonny Baker removed Zak Crawley (31) and Harry Brook (10) at important moments; Mitch Marsh and Ryan Rickelton had earlier added 42 in 22 balls for the first wicket.
Seifert and Walter opened the reply and dominated the Sunrisers attack: Seifert struck five fours and seven sixes, skied Abrar Ahmed on 57 only for Crawley to spill a difficult chance, and Walter twice cleared the ropes off Abrar as the pair finished the chase comfortably.
The margin of victory improved Manchester Super Giants' net run-rate to 0.791, moving them above Sunrisers on 0.603 into second place, while Trent Rockets remain top on 24 points and advance directly to Sunday's final at Lord's; Welsh Fire (−1.001) and MI London (0.262) could still catch the pair in theory but "would have to win by substantial margins" to raise their net run-rates.
The competition returns on Wednesday with double-headers at Sophia Gardens and Edgbaston: Welsh Fire host London Spirit and Birmingham Phoenix entertain MI London, with Fire's women facing Spirit at 11:30 BST and Phoenix playing MI London at 15:00; Fire's men must win big against Spirit in their 15:00 match to boost net run-rate, and MI London need to do likewise in their fixture at Phoenix at 18:30 if they are to sneak into third place.
The teams finishing second and third will meet in the Eliminator at The Oval on Friday.
