MI London completed a seven-wicket victory over Sunrisers at the Kia Oval in The Hundred, reaching their target of 144 with 16 balls remaining. The match swung sharply in both directions before Nicholas Pooran's unbeaten 58 from 22 deliveries and Sam Curran's measured 60 not out from 39 balls settled the contest decisively in the final third of the innings.
Sunrisers Set a Competitive Target
Sunrisers posted 143 in their allotted 100 balls, a total that looked meaningful on what was described throughout as a slow surface early in the evening. The pitch conditions were expected to reward patient batting in the opening phase of the chase, and Sunrisers' bowlers moved quickly to exploit that in the opening overs.
Carse Tears Through the MI Top Order
Brydon Carse bowled continuously through the first ten balls of the MI London innings and caused immediate damage. Will Jacks fell in the sixth delivery of the match, caught by Benny Howell at cover off a ball that angled in before seaming away, Jacks attempting to dispatch it to the leg side and spooning an edge. Jacks departed for two from three balls.
Jason Roy, opening on his 36th birthday, lasted only two deliveries.
Carse found sharp movement away from the right-hander, drawing a thick edge that Mitchell Marsh held cleanly at slip. Roy was dismissed without scoring. Two wickets down for eight runs, MI London needed something steadying from the middle order.Carse's opening spell finished with figures of two wickets for 18 runs from his first 20-ball allocation — a highly efficient return that left MI's chase in genuine difficulty with 136 required from 90 balls when James Vince and Sam Curran came together.
Vince and Curran Steady the Innings
The recovery began quietly.
Vince and Curran absorbed pressure from Matthew Potts and Nathan Ellis through the middle phase, working the ball into gaps rather than forcing matters. Curran found boundaries when the opportunity arose — a four edged down to third off Ellis, and a six launched over midwicket off Abrar Ahmed as the partnership developed.Vince contributed useful runs but never looked entirely fluent. Ellis eventually found his edge in the 44th ball of the innings, a delivery that nipped in with pace and took out off stump, ending Vince's stay at 17 from 18 balls. MI London were 51 for three, still requiring 93 from 56 balls.
The match was delicately balanced.Pooran Changes the Complexion Entirely
Nicholas Pooran arrived at number five and immediately altered the nature of the chase. His first significant contribution came against Benny Howell — a four tickled to fine leg, a six driven straight over long on, and another four swept to fine leg in quick succession. Fourteen runs came from three Howell deliveries as Pooran established his intent without delay.
Dan Lawrence's off-spin provided little respite. Pooran cleared the boundary over wide long on off a length ball, then added a scrambled single to keep MI ahead of the required rate as the strategic timeout was taken with 69 needed from 45 balls and 20,540 spectators watching at the Kia Oval.
The partnership between Pooran and Curran became the decisive passage of play. The pair put on a 50-run stand from just 23 deliveries, with Curran contributing an equally destructive sequence against Abrar Ahmed — a six smoked over straight midwicket, followed by two more boundaries as the spinner found no answers to the left-hander's power. Curran reached 51 from 34 balls, described in commentary as a proper captain's knock.
Pooran reached his half-century from 19 balls, confirmed as the fastest fifty in the franchise's history across its previous seasons as the Oval Invincibles and the current MI London incarnation. The ball was changed during Ellis's spell with 17 needed from 25 balls, but the replacement ball offered Sunrisers no late twist. Pooran reached 54 from 20 balls before Ellis's final delivery came, a full ball on leg stump that Pooran tucked away for four to bring the target down to 11 from 20.
Curran Finishes the Job With Pooran
Matthew Potts returned for his final five-ball allocation needing to be exceptional. A full toss from Potts was launched over wide long on by Curran for six — the ball described as a poor delivery. Pooran then ended the match on the next boundary-scoring opportunity, lifting Potts beyond mid off to complete the victory. MI London reached 144 for three, winning by seven wickets with 16 balls to spare.
Curran finished unbeaten on 60 from 39 balls. Pooran ended on 58 not out from 22. The pair shared an unbroken stand of 93 that proved too much for Sunrisers' bowlers to contain once the powerplay pressure had subsided.
From Sunrisers' bowling group, Carse's early spell stood out as the one phase where the defending side genuinely threatened to take the match away from MI. Once Pooran arrived and the lights lifted conditions for batting, Sunrisers had no bowling combination that held an answer. MI London's seven-wicket win, achieved with comfort in the end, gave the franchise a strong opening statement at their home ground.
