On this day in 2021: The final day of the inaugural edition of The Hundred
On this day, two years ago, Oval Invincibles defeated Southern Brave in the finals of the inaugural edition of The Hundred at the Lord’s and lifted the championship trophy, which was soon followed by the Men’s finale where the Southern Brave won the first-ever edition of the tournament by defeating the Birmingham Phoenix.
All the excitement, fun, and thrill ended when the 100-ball tournament concluded on August 21, 2021. The Lord’s was packed and the members of the audience were glued to their seats to watch the first-ever grand finale of the one-of-a-kind tournament. Though the men’s game turned out to be a one-sided affair at a point of time, the women put up a nail-biting contest on the final day.
No event of such sort had ever been played before, and the set of new and intriguing rules and regulations had kept the fans and players entertained throughout. The men’s final did not reach the exhilarating finale it deserved after a month of adrenaline and thrills in the innovative 100-ball format, which has now proven to be popular with the audience.
With a brutal 61 from Irish batter Paul Stirling in 36 balls and a late 44 from Ross Whiteley, Southern Brave scored 168-5 off of 100 balls. Liam Livingstone provided them considerable hope by hitting four sixes in his quick-fire knock of 46 runs, but once he was run out, Phoenix faced a difficult task as they finished on 136-5.
Oval Invincibles won the women’s competition, which has received the same attention as the men’s, after defeating Southern Brave on the day of the finals, by a margin of 48 runs in front of 17,000 spectators. The Brave were knocked out for a mere 73 runs after posting a low total of 122, with Marizanne Kapp getting three wickets.
The Brave had a better season as compared to the Invincibles, and with the most points on the points table, they were also the first team to qualify for the finale, with the other seven teams fighting for a last-moment spot. But in the end, one poor outing led them to lose the prized possession of the coveted cup as the Invincibles skipper Dane van Niekerk lifted the cup in style.
