Trent Rockets’ six-match winning streak ended at Trent Bridge as Southern Brave beat them, leaving the league leaders dependent on other results to avoid the eliminator ahead of Sunday’s final.
The Rockets must wait for Tuesday’s meeting between second-placed SunRisers Leeds and Manchester Super Giants to learn whether they will go straight to Lord’s or face an eliminator. SunRisers can overtake Trent with a win because their net run rate is superior. A Super Giants victory would pull them level on 20 points with SunRisers and could even leapfrog them into second with a large-margin win.
Southern Brave sealed the win thanks to Tristan Stubbs, who finished 52 not out off 28 balls to steer his side home with three balls to spare while chasing 159. The turning point came when Marcus Stoinis walked in at 78-3. The Australian immediately signalled intent with a 6, 4 and 6 from his first three deliveries, finishing 46 off 25 and shifting the momentum firmly to Brave.
Trent’s 158-5 had been rebuilt late on by an unbroken 66 from Mitchell Santner (35*) and Lewis Gregory (28*), a 39-ball stand that pushed the total to a challenging target. Earlier in the innings Finn Allen (23 off 12) and Aneurin Donald (19 off 9) had provided a brisk start.
There were also moments of high-quality fielding, notably a smart team effort that saw Calvin Harrison and Finn Allen combine to take an excellent catch to dismiss Jamie Smith. Even the pre-match coin toss produced a memorable moment when the coin hit Chris Jordan’s shoe and the toss had to be retaken.
Reflecting on their campaign, Stubbs admitted mixed feelings: “It’s been disappointing, but it’s a nice way to finish off. In hindsight it’s a bit frustrating. We gave it our all for the month but in the first three games we lost a couple of close ones and then it’s hard to get momentum. I think we’ve shown at the end what we can do but it took us a while to get there.”
Fans can watch every match of The Hundred through to the finals on Sunday, August 16 — matches are available to stream contract-free on NOW.