Manchester Originals men’s team just narrowly missed out on winning The Hundred this year, falling just 14 runs short of the mark as the Oval Invincibles lifted their first title to become 2023 champions in what was a record-breaking final.
After a thrilling eliminator to secure their spot in the final two on Saturday, with Jos Buttler leading an impressive charge to chase down 197 and beat Southern Brave by seven wickets, it looked as though the momentum was on the Originals’ side. They certainly got off to a good start on Sunday too.
Some impressive fast bowling saw the Invincibles stunted to just 34-5 after 36 balls, with Richard Gleeson finding Jason Roy’s edge, while both Paul Striling and Sam Curran were also caught behind for a duck as the Manchester side took three wickets from just 15 runs.
It was looking like an absolute masterclass at one point.
Not much to see here. Not much at all. Definitely not Manchester Originals taking 3️⃣ VERY early wickets.
However, it was the other Curran brother, Tom, who helped gain the Invincibles a foothold and after paring up with Jimmy Neesham, the duo smacked home an unbeaten 127 from 65 balls, the highest batting partnership ever in men’s Hundred.
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The Londoners went on to post 161-5, leaving the Manchester side with more work to do than they might have initially expected after their flying start, putting in a valiant display as they chased down 162.
Having already overcome a stronger tally less than 24 hours earlier, the Originals rightly fancied their chances.
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Unfortunately, with captain Buttler going out early, it was up to Phil Salt, Max Holden and Jamie Overton to do their best and try to stay in the game — and they very nearly did.
Ultimately, it was the Currans, Neesham and that incredible tally that gave the local team the lifeline as broke the previous record of 124 set by Dawid Malan and D’Arcy Short for the Trent Rockets in the inaugural Hundred tournament back in 2021.
It was the Originals’ second consecutive defeat in the final following a two-wicket loss to Trent Rockets in 2022 and a club third for Invincibles overall, with the women’s team having won the last two competitions.
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The women’s champions came in the form of Southern Brave this year, beating the Northern Superchargers to their first title by a comfortable 34 runs. As for Manchester Originals’ women’s team, they finished seventh on six points, only finishing behind London Spirit on net run rate.
Here’s the moment the Invincibles sealed the men’s title:
Another year, another step closer to that first Hundred title for the Manchester Originals, just not this time around.
Regardless, even with the weather against them throughout his year’s tournament, they never failed to entertain and we’re sure they’ll come back even stronger next year.
It’s been yet another great edition of The Hundred and it’s no surprise to see why this fast-paced format has already taken off in such a short space of time. Until next time.
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You can see the full highlights of Oval Invincibles vs Manchester Originals in The Hundred 2023 men’s final down below:
Featured Image — Manchester Originals/The Hundred (via Instagram)
Sport
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Danny Jones -
28th August 2023 
