Mitchell Santner delivered a match-winning performance, scoring his first half-century in The Hundred to secure a six-wicket victory for the Trent Rockets. This result marks the Rockets’ sixth consecutive win since their opening-day defeat. Santner’s unbeaten 52 proved decisive, ultimately overshadowing a brilliant 72 from MI London’s Sam Curran in a contest where the visitors’ total of 147 fell short of expectations.
MI London began aggressively through Will Jacks, who attacked Craig Overton and Matt Henry early on. However, the momentum shifted dramatically within three deliveries when Tim David took a spectacular catch to dismiss James Vince, followed by a direct hit that removed Nicholas Pooran. Although Jacks contributed 39, the innings stalled after Ollie Pope was retired out due to a slow start. Sam Curran anchored the scoring, hitting back-to-back sixes off Lewis Gregory and another off Santner. Despite that single expensive delivery, Santner remained economical, conceding only 19 runs from his 20 balls. A late collapse saw Sikandar Raza, Sherfane Rutherford, and Sam Curran fall in the final six deliveries, leaving MI London at 147/7 when a score exceeding 160 had seemed likely.
The Rockets’ chase faced early hurdles as Finn Allen fell for just 1 to Tom Curran. Aneurin Donald provided a brief spark with four consecutive boundaries before being run out, and the subsequent dismissals of Sam Billings and Ben Duckett left the Rockets in a precarious position at the halfway stage. With the team struggling, Tim David and Santner stabilized the innings to regain control.
The turning point arrived during a Tom Curran over, where Santner struck two fours and a six to shift the momentum. Santner continued his assault by clearing the ropes against Richard Gleeson, while David hammered Trent Boult over long-on. Santner ultimately sealed the victory with ten balls to spare, hitting 4, 6, and 4 to reach his milestone. Brief Scores: MI London 147/7 in 100 balls (Sam Curran 72, Will Jacks 39; Lewis Gregory 2-32) lost to Trent Rockets 148/4 in 90 balls (Mitchell Santner 52*, Tim David 32*; Richard Gleeson 2-27) by 6 wickets.
Santner’s efforts triumphed over Sam Curran’s terrific fifty in the first half of the contest as MI London’s total of 147 didn’t prove enough.
Despite conceding that six, Santner ended up giving away only 19 runs from the 20 deliveries he bowled.
Losing Sikandar Raza, Sherfane Rutherford and Sam Curran off the last six balls of the innings proved to be a disaster for MI London as they could only set a target of 148, even though a 160-plus total was on the cards.
MI London opted to retire out Ollie Pope after the English batter failed to get going from the word go.
