Nicholas Pooran blasted an unbeaten 66 as Northern Superchargers beat Manchester Originals in a high-scoring thriller in the men’s Hundred at Old Trafford.
Chasing 153 and having swiftly lost England captain Ben Stokes to a potentially serious hamstring injury, Superchargers started slowly before Pooran and skipper Harry Brook (43) combined to power their side into contention.
Brook was caught by Jamie Overton off the bowling of Usama Mir, but Pooran pressed on, smashing 22 runs, including three sixes, from Fazalhaq Farooqi’s penultimate set, before Adam Hose hit a six of his own to secure victory.
Having been put in to bat, the Originals off to a flying start with Phil Salt hitting a 17-ball half century as the home side reached 93-2 after 40 balls.
But their charge stalled dramatically as the Superchargers slow bowlers came into the game.
From successive deliveries, Paul Walter was run out and Sikandar Raza was dismissed for a first-ball duck. Adil Rashid then removed Salt who sliced to Mitchell Santner at point for 61.
Overton helped the Originals regain some momentum towards the end of the innings, hitting three sixes as they finished on 152-7.
The start of the reply contrasted sharply with how the Originals began, as Matthew Short skied Farooqi to Walter for one, while Stokes had to retire after hurting a hamstring while running a single.
It took the Superchargers 57 balls to reach 50, but they were dug out of trouble by an eager Pooran who cracked two fours and eight sixes in his 33-ball innings.
But the winning moment was not to be his, with Hose heaving Scott Currie over the long-off boundary to wrap up the win with three balls to spare.
