Manchester Super Giants 187 for 7 (Buttler 90) beat Birmingham Phoenix 100 by 87 runs
Manchester Super Giants made it two wins from two at Emirates Old Trafford Cricket Ground to move to the top of the table in The Hundred men’s competition.
Buttler fell just short of his century, but he hit five sixes and seven fours and enjoyed good support from Heinrich Klaasen (20) and then a grandstand finish from Tom Moores, who slammed five maximums in an unbeaten 17-ball 39, including two off the previously unhittable Usman Tariq.
Much like their first game against the Trent Rockets on Friday, no Phoenix bowler escaped punishment and they knew their batters would need to be at their absolute best to be in with a chance of chasing down the target.
As it was, they surrendered meekly, all out for an appropriate hundred off 97 balls. Joe Clarke and Will Smeed started steadily enough but all of the Super Giants’ fearsome attack were on point, Josh Tongue bowling with real pace to get two early scalps, Sonny Baker and Gus Atkinson continuing to impress and spinners Noor Ahmed and Liam Dawson making sure that the visitors were snuffed out without ever threatening.
Nobody scored more than skipper Donovan Ferreira’s 23, as the Super Giants went not only to the top of the table in the men’s competition but also to the summit in The Hundred Helix, the new trophy combining women’s and men’s points.
Tom Moores said: “It’s a good pitch for Old Trafford, and batting with Jos is nice. He batted unbelievably well. There was a strong wind, so we targeted the short side, and it came off. Being able to bat with him, his experience rubs off.”
Meerkat Match Hero Jos Buttler added: “We got a really good score, bowled fast and made it look tricky. I’ve felt good, for a while now, and was off the mark first ball. There are little periods where you need to manage 5-10 balls, but I was glad to bat most of it and post a good score.
“Tom Moores wanted to take the spinners down, with the wind to the short boundary. Our quicks are bowling accurately, and this is as clinical a performance as I’ve been a part of.”
