MO vs NS, Review | Buttler-Klaasen partnership and Baker Hattrick steal show as Originals beat Superchargers at Old Trafford

‌Manchester originals won the toss and chose to bat first on a slightly slowish surface at Old Trafford. Though they lost an early wicket of their skipper Philip Salt as he chopped a skiddy delivery by Matthew Potts onto his stumps, Jos Buttler and Ben McKinney kept things steady towards the end of the powerplay and finished on a score of 39/1 after 25 balls. However, Northern Superchargers crept back into the game as Mitchell Santner got the wicket of McKinney in the next over, as he was trapped LBW by the experienced left-arm spinner. While losing a wicket might have put the hosts in a bit of a rut, Rachin Ravindra joined the Originals keeper at the crease, and the runs suddenly started to come thick and fast. As the duo continued to accumulate runs, the Originals were in a strong position at the halfway mark with the score reading 80/2. The two flamboyant batters had put on 62 runs for the third wicket until Ravindra's stumps were rattled by Potts on the 64th delivery after his fiery knock of 31 off 14 deliveries. As soon as the partnership was broken, there was a bit of a break in the scoring rate as well, with only 32 runs coming in the next 25 balls, bringing the score to 112/3 after 75 balls. While it seemed like Supercharges were back in the game, Buttler continued to take the innings forward and was supported by Heinrich Klaasen, who after a cautious start in his first ten balls, started to play his natural attacking game. Buttler and Klaasen stayed unbeaten in the innings, with the Englishman finishing on a score of 64 off 45 balls and the swashbuckling South African getting to his half-century in just 25 balls. The duo put on 69 runs for the fourth wicket as the home team finished their innings on a huge total of 171/3.

The Boys in Purple needed a great start to chase down the total, but sadly lost two quick wickets with Zack Crawley and Michael Pepper getting out cheaply to some wonderful display of pace bowling from Josh Tongue. The Superchargers were in a spot of bother at the end of the power play with the score at 38/2 after 25 balls. While the start from the visitors was not the best, the middle overs were not exactly a joy ride for them, with the spinners coming into play. With Ravindra getting the prize wicket of Superchargers skipper Harry Brook, and Noor Ahmad striking on the first ball of his over, the Originals continued to dominate the second innings. Dawid Malan was dismissed on the 50th ball of the innings by Sonny Baker on 19 as the visitors lost half their side with only 63 runs on the board. While it seemed tough for the Chargers to get back in the match, David Miller tried to bring the game as deep as possible with a valiant knock of 38 off 22. Unfortunately, as soon as a slower delivery by Tongue knocked over his stumps, the chances for his team dwindled as well. As Santner and Potts fell to spin, Baker got the last two wickets of consecutive deliveries and claimed the first hat-trick of the season. The Superchargers were bowled out for 114 as Originals won the game by 57 runs.

While there were some great performances in the game, it was Jos Buttler who was awarded the player of the match after his unbeaten knock of 64.