‘The Hundred’ Leeds Sunrisers v London Spirit at Headingley August 4th

Neil Whitaker reports

SUNRISERS Leeds beat London Spirit  by 37 runs at Headingley to leapfrog their visitors in the table.

Put into bat the Sunrisers Leeds reached 241 for two  in their hundred balls, a record score in the competition. Their innings was a boundary fest: 120 of the runs came in sixes and 42 in fours. Ryan Rickleton hit an unbeaten 94 but he  was overshadowed by Mitch Marsh and Harry Brook.  Marsh who made 76 looked hungry for the boundaries from the moment he came in.

He  drove David Willey over the extra cover boundary for a delightful six and drove the next ball to the long-on boundary.  He  effortlessly drove Adam Milne to the extra cover boundary and swept Adam Zampa’s  first  ball over the square leg boundary.  He drove the next ball to the long off boundary.  The next ball was a high full toss which he dispatched over square lag for a massive six.  After a wide he clipped the next ball over mid-wicket for another six.

With Rickleton he added 148 for the first wicket in 65 balls. Their partnership was broken when he sliced a drive off Milne and  Dewald Brevis coming in from the cover boundary took the catch. 42 off Marsh’s 76 runs came in sixes and 24 came in fours and he faced 37 balls.

Brook opened his account with a trademark six when he hit AJ Tye into the Howard stand. Two balls later a full bloodied edge  by Brook hit the third man boundary board.  He hit Jamie Overton for a straight six which landed on the second tier of the Howard stand and squirted the ball over the third man boundary.  He reached his fifty which came off 15 balls with a huge straight six.  He threw the kitchen sink at Willey and found Overton at long-off.

Rickleton worked James Coles to backward point through the legs of Willey for a boundary.  He clipped Tye off his legs for a six over square leg.   He hit consecutive sixes off Overton: the first was an agricultural shot over long-on and the second was a classical hook over fine leg. He whipped Milne off his toes for a six into the West stand to take him into the 90’s.

London Spirit’s chase got off to the worst possible start in the first set when Jonny Bairstow top edged a slash off Reece Topley and stumper Rickleton took and easy catch. Spirt’s captain Livingstone got off the mark  with a top  edged that could have gone anywhere.  He pulled   Bryson Carse for a six over fine leg.

Topley got his second wicket Lhuan-Dri drove him but took his hand off his bat and the ball looped to Zak Crawley at mid-on.  After hitting  Nathan Ellis for two straight fours Livingstone squeezed the next ball  to Topley at point.  Two balls later  Coles tried to play Ellis to leg, was hit on his toes and was plumb leg before for a duck. James Rew edged Marty Potts’ first ball to Rickleton,

There were only two big partnerships of the Spirit’s innings:  74 between Willey and Jamie Overton for the seventh wicket and 74  in 38 balls between Brevis and Willey. But by the time these three got to the wicket the match was over.

But the sixes kept coming, Brevis hooked Potts over square leg for a six and drove Ellis straight for another six. Willey pulled  Revis for a six over mid-wicket. And he even  managed to top edge a full toss from Carse to the third man boundary.  Overton was not to be left out he  cut Ellis over the cover boundary for a six and another over the mid-wicket boundary.

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