Men's Hundred 2026, MIL-M vs LS-M 12th Match Match Report, July 29, 2026

A packed crowd at the Kia Oval were treated to an exceptional display of hitting from 20-year-old Lhuan-dre Pretorius, the young South African smashing 64 from 28 balls to help London Spirit to a seven-wicket win over MI London in a hotly contested London derby.

Chasing 165 to win, Jonny Bairstow and Pretorius flew out of the blocks with the left-handed Pretorius smashing Trent Boult out of the ground, a towering blow 106 metres over midwicket.

The pair brought up the Spirit’s 50 off just 18 balls and closed the powerplay on 61 for 0, breaking the back of the chase in brutal fashion.

Bairstow departed for 23 from 12, but Pretorius kept up the momentum, reaching his first half-century in The Hundred from 23 balls, clearing the ropes seven times in total, as the Spirit cantered towards their target.

He would fall to Boult with the score on 101 just before the halfway mark of the Spirit innings, but the damage was done as Dewald Brevis cracked 37 not out from 18 balls to see the Spirit climb off the bottom of the table with a first victory of the season with 11 balls to spare.

MI London’s innings hadn’t featured the same lightning start. Will Jacks and James Vince had their work cut out for them against David Willey and Adam Milne, reaching a modest 28 for 0 at the close of the powerplay against a moving ball.

They were to be rewarded for their patience, moving up through the gears against Adam Zampa and Andrew Tye, England man Jacks moving to his half-century from 30 balls.

Things then swung back in the favour of the visitors when Vince fell to James Coles for 26 and Jamie Overton saw the back of Jacks and new man Nicholas Pooran in the space of three balls. Jacks departed for a fine 65 from 44 balls, becoming the highest run-scorer in the history of The Hundred men’s competition in the process.

Overton continued the Spirit’s fightback, removing Jason Roy caught behind on review, the veteran batter back in the MI London side in place of skipper Sam Curran who sat out the match with muscle tightness as a precautionary measure.

Late hitting from Sherfane Rutherford propelled MI London past the 160 mark before the West Indian fell for 41 off 19 from the final ball of the innings. Rutherford’s lusty blows looked to have given the hosts something to defend but the big hitting of Pretorius made light work of the chase and kept Spirit in the competition.

Meerkat Match Hero, Pretorius, said: “I’m glad we got over the line. It’s really good to get off the mark and hopefully we can carry this momentum forward.

“I batted for a while yesterday at training, I was working with DK [batting coach Dinesh Karthik] on that shot over short-fine and fine-leg and it paid off luckily. It also got me out but that’s part of the game. I’m glad I could contribute to the team winning.”

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