Trent Rockets 148 for 4 (Santner 52*, Gleeson 2-27) beat MI London 147 for 7 (Curran 72, Gregory 2-32) by six wickets
With the match in the balance, Santner (52* off 23) and David (32* off 24) shared an unbeaten fifth-wicket stand of 78 to take the visitors home with 10 balls to spare.
Set 148 for victory, the Rockets made a stuttering start when Tom Curran nicked off Finn Allen and a promising knock from Aneurin Donald (23 from 10) was ended by a sloppy piece of running. When Sam Billings was dismissed for a duck via a brilliant caught-and-bowled from Richard Gleeson, the visitors had slipped to 46 for 3 from 30 balls.
Ben Duckett (27 from 26) struggled for rhythm before edging behind off Gleeson but David and Santner combined to produce the match-winning partnership – aided by some poor fielding from MI London, who shelled three catches in the space of 13 balls.
Given their impressive record chasing it was no surprise when Rockets chose to field but their bowlers were under the pump as Will Jacks came out all guns blazing, taking 16 runs from Matt Henry’s first five deliveries.
Two superb pieces of fielding pulled things back, Tim David taking a stunning catch off Craig Overton to dismiss James Vince before Duckett sent back Nicholas Pooran two balls later with an outrageous direct hit from extra cover.
More exceptional work in the field, this time a one-handed caught-and-bowled by Calvin Harrison, led to the demise of Jacks (39 from 26) to leave the hosts 70 for 3 after 56 deliveries.
Sam Curran (72 off 46) took charge, dispatching three sixes in the space of five deliveries, but support was in short supply. Ollie Pope was retired out after labouring to 8 from nine balls and MI London may have regretted their decision to hold back Sikandar Raza, who made 16 from 11, and Sherfane Rutherford, who fell for a golden duck to Lewis Gregory from the 96th delivery.
Gregory struck again to finally remove Curran, whose career-best score in The Hundred ultimately proved in vain.
MI London will likely need to beat bottom-placed Birmingham Phoenix on Wednesday at Edgbaston to maintain their hopes of qualifying for Friday’s Eliminator while Trent Rockets will secure their direct passage to the final if they can overcome Southern Brave on Monday.
Santner, the Meerkat Match Hero, said: “Six wins out of seven but we’re not guaranteed to finish top. We know it’s a big game on Monday, and we know there are quality teams throughout this competition, so it’s going to be a tight finish.”
