A maiden five-wicket haul in The Hundred from Rashid Khan followed up some brutal ball-striking from Will Jacks and Nicholas Pooran as MI London secured a 45-run win over Manchester Super Giants at the Kia Oval.
The win saw the home side climb to second place in the table.
Having been asked to bat first, Jacks came out looking like a man on a mission and propelled MI London to their highest powerplay score of the season. He scored 34 off his first 18 balls, clearing the rope four times, as the home side reached 45-0 after 25 balls.
Coming in at No.3, Pooran got off the mark with a six off Liam Dawson to set the precedent for what was to come. Jacks brought up a 28-ball half-century with a maximum off Noor Ahmad and just kept on swinging, falling for 62 off 31 as MI London reached 109-2 with 40 balls to go.
Pooran and Sam Curran looked in ominous touch. The diminutive yet powerful left-handers added 44 in 23 balls before the latter went, stumped by Jos Buttler off Ahmad. Pooran cantered along unperturbed and went six, six, four, off Gus Atkinson to reach 50 from 25 balls.
The Trinidadian was bowled by Josh Tongue for 54 from 28 as Tongue, amongst all the carnage, managed to finish with figures of 2-13. MI London closed on 183-6, their highest total of this year’s campaign.
With a big chase on their hands, Aiden Markram began the visitor’s chase bullishly. Not to be outdone by Jacks’ earlier hitting, he was even more destructive in the powerplay, smashing 38 from 17 as the Super Giants made it to 55-0.
But Khan then struck twice, removing Tim Seifert and Buttler for 17 and 2 respectively, with Buttler well caught on the legside boundary by Nathan Sowter.
After bringing up his 50 from 25 balls, Markram also fell. He pulled Sowter to Curran at midwicket to leave the Super Giants three down with 110 still required from 55 balls.
Khan then further turned the game in MI London’s favour when he dismissed Heinrich Klaasen and Tom Moores in the space of two balls. Dawson then chopped on to give him his fifth as the Afghanistan superstar finished with figures of 5-17.
With the wind removed from their sails the Super Giants could only muster 138, but despite the loss they are still in the race for a spot in The Hundred Eliminator.
Meerkat Match Hero, Khan, said: “I needed those wickets. I’d had a bit of a quiet tournament overall. I just tried my best to keep things simple and hit the right area consistently and I got the results.
“Runs on the board makes a difference, but it’s about hitting the right area consistently and making it as hard as possible for the batters.”
