Last Updated on 47 seconds ago by Dom Harris
The sixth edition of The Hundred has reached the play-off stage as three teams remain standing in both the men’s and women’s competition.
There will be a new name on the men’s trophy in 2026 after MI London, previously Oval Invincibles, failed to secure a big enough margin of victory in their final game to jump up into the top three.
The Eliminator contests will once again take place at the Kia Oval, on August 14, with Lord’s staging the showpiece finals 48 hours later.
Which teams remain in the men’s competition?
Trent Rockets finished top of the table with six wins from eight games and have qualified directly for the Lord’s final, where they will take on the winner of Friday’s play-off between Manchester Super Giants and Sunrisers Leeds.
Super Giants and Sunrisers both finished on 20 points after winning five games each, the same number as three-time winners MI London who just missed out on a top three spot due to an inferior net run rate.
Trent Rockets were beaten finalists last year, though did win the title from top spot in 2022 when they triumphed against the Manchester-based franchise.
Manchester Super Giants – formerly Manchester Originals – who lost back-to-back finals in 2022 and 2023, are now returning to the business end of the competition following two poor campaigns.
Meanwhile, Sunrisers Leeds – another re-branded team under IPL ownership for 2026 – only reached the knockout stage for the first time last season but were denied the chance to reach the final by the weather as they were the lower-ranked side.
The two sides met as recently as Tuesday in their final group game where Super Giants thrashed Sunrisers by ten wickets at Old Trafford, though Sunrisers Leeds did win their home meeting earlier on in the campaign.
Both have played, and lost, at the Kia Oval already this season against MI London.
Who could hold the key for the title?
It is difficult to look past the brutal top orders for both MSG and SL that have played such a pivotal role so far.
Overseas duo Mitch Marsh (Sunrisers) and Tim Seifert (Super Giants) have been the standout batters of the competition in their Hundred debut seasons, with four half-centuries each to their name – Australian white-ball captain Marsh is the leading run-scorer on 406 ahead of Seifert’s 322.
South Africa’s Ryan Rickelton has been striking at 176.36 alongside Marsh, whilst on the other side, Essex’s Paul Walter has come in to replace the departed Aiden Markram for MSG and struck 145 runs in three innings at 185.89.
There is then the small matter of T20 all-time leading run-maker Jos Buttler and England white-ball captain Harry Brook at the respective first drops.
Such has been the performances of the top order and the nature of the format, destructive middle-order players such as Heinrich Klaasen and Dan Lawrence have only faced 65 and 77 balls respectively all tournament.
With the ball, England’s pace trio of Gus Atkinson, Josh Tongue and Sonny Baker have been formidable for MSG with 30 wickets combined – Atkinson and Tongue both also hold economy rates below 8.
For Sunrisers, quicks Brydon Carse and Aussie Nathan Ellis have done the bulk of the wicket-taking.
Both sides possess an overseas mystery spinner in Afghanistan’s Noor Ahmad (MSG) and Pakistan’s Abrar Ahmed (SL), though the pair have struggled with averages in excess of 50.
As for the confirmed finalists, Ben Duckett has scored 306 runs – behind only Marsh and Seifert – at a slightly more measured strike rate of 133, though does have power-hitters Finn Allen and Aneurin Donald to bat around.
Wicket-keeper Sam Billings is one game away from winning the title for a fourth consecutive year as captain, whilst in all-rounder Lewis Gregory, they also have the leader of the 2022 triumphant Rockets side.
Northants duo Calvin Harrison and Ben Sanderson are targeting a T20 Blast and Hundred double to cap a memorable summer – Harrison in particular has impressed and formed a strong spin partnership with Kiwi Mitchell Santner.
Santner has also contributed with the bat, though fellow overseas players Tim David and Matt Henry have both struggled to make a significant impact as of yet.
What about the women’s final three?
Trent Rockets will contest both finals on Sunday after their women’s side also booked their spot at Lord’s by ending the group stage in first place with an emphatic record of seven wins out of eight – their previous best performance was the Eliminator stage in 2022.
No franchise has ever won both the men’s and women’s titles in the same year.
There could be two opportunities this time around as Sunrisers Leeds are also in the Eliminator on Friday, aiming to go back-to-back after winning in 2025 under their previous name Northern Superchargers.
They beat Southern Brave 12 months ago to lift the trophy and it is a rematch of that final in the play-off this time around for the chance to face the Rockets.
It is a contrast of form in the meeting at the Kia Oval, with Sunrisers winning four games in a row to clinch a knockout spot, whilst the Brave arrive on the back of three straight defeats.
However, Southern Brave did come out on top by five wickets against their opponents when the two sides met early in the group stage.
As for personnel, Australia’s Phoebe Litchfield has been in scintillating form at the top of the run-scoring charts with 289 at a strike rate of 168 for Sunrisers Leeds, closely followed by teammate and compatriot Annabel Sutherland who is currently averaging 91, whilst Trent Rockets’ Sophia Dunkley is the only English batter to surpass 200 runs so far and has more fifties than any other player (3).
While pace has dominated in the men’s competition, it has been spin to win for the women with 18-year-old England starlet Tilly Corteen-Coleman claiming a tournament-high 13 wickets and Australia captain Sophie Molineux on 11 for Southern Brave.
For More Such News & Updates Follow: CricBlog
