London Spirit v Southern Brave (34-3)
Match abandoned
Rain thwarted London Spirit’s hopes of kick-starting their Men’s Hundred campaign as they had to settle for a share of the points against Southern Brave at Lord’s.
Spirit, whose game against Manchester Originals was abandoned because of the weather last weekend, looked well-placed after reducing their visitors to 34-3 from 26 balls.
The game had already been reduced to 50 deliveries per side following an earlier downpour, with Brave on 11-1, but heavy rain returned just 15 minutes after the restart, making further play impossible.
Umpires Paul Pollard and Babs Gcuma took the inevitable decision to call the game off at 8.50pm, with both sides taking a point apiece.
With overcast conditions, it was little surprise that Spirit opted to bowl after winning the toss, although Finn Allen clubbed Dan Worrall’s second delivery straight back over his head for six.
Worrall took a return catch during his second set of five to remove Devon Conway without scoring.
But there was only time for Jordan Thompson to send down one ball before the rain descended and the players left the field for the next hour and a half.
With the mopping-up operation concluded and the match length halved, James Vince launched an immediate assault on the Spirit bowling.
He dispatched Thompson for successive fours and lifted Matt Critchley over the long-on fence to reach 19 from nine.
But Liam Dawson slowed the Brave charge, collecting Allen’s wicket during a miserly set of five before racing to his left to pull off a superb full-length catch when Vince speared Daryl Mitchell’s first ball towards mid-off.
Unfortunately, that proved to be Mitchell’s final delivery as well, with no time for Brave to even send out their next batter.
