Kia Oval Talking Points: Oval Invincibles cruise past London Spirit

The Cricketer looks at the main talking points from the Men's Hundred clash between Oval Invincibles and London Spirit at the Kia Oval

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Movement That Inspires play of the day

Jordan Cox is enjoying a spectacular Hundred campaign with Oval Invincibles.

His campaign included three consecutive scores above fifty, including a magical 58 not out when he last batted at the Kia Oval against Trent Rockets, as he forges a way back into international reckoning. 

With the London derby against London Spirit on the line and his team rocked by the early wicket of Tawanda Muyeye, Cox introduced himself with back-to-back boundaries on his second and third deliveries at the crease. 

He pulled the first along the floor between mid-on and mid-wicket, a shot that cracked off his blade, and then launched the next ball from Richard Gellson for a towering six deep into the stands.

It was a statement of intent both from the batter and his team.

The Essex batter ended up with 47 off 27 balls, which went some way to helping his team win their final home group game of the season. 

Related: The Hundred 2025: All eight men's teams previewed

Related: The Hundred - men 2025 squads: Full player list for all teams

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Sam Curran's moonball did the trick again (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Take The Lead, Drive Electric moment of the day

It is common for the men's and women's teams to watch each other's games in The Hundred as matches are played in double-headers. 

Well, Will Jacks must have been watching Charlie Dean in the field because he produced a stunning but very similar catch to remove Ollie Pope.

Dean leapt in the air to get the big wicket of Maraizanne Kapp before Jacks did very smiler, this time at mid-on, to hand Sam Curran the wicket of their county teammate Ollie Pope.

The left-armer delivered one his his now-famous moonballs at 49mph, which Pope could only spoon in the air. And just as it appeared to have crept over Jacks, the allrounder stuck out his left hand and plucked it out of the air, goal-keeper style. 

It was a wicket made in Surrey, all three competent members of the moment graduating from the academy at the Kia Oval.

With both openers, Jamie Smith (28) and David Warner (10), already dismissed, it was a big strike for Invincibles to reduce their opponents to 49 for 3.

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Ollie Pope was undone by the combination of his two Surrey teammates (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Cut-off chaos

London Spirit's innings lasted 11 minutes beyond the cut-off time, which was, in part, due to the umpires not being able to decide who had been run out off the penultimate ball. 

Liam Dawson charged towards Ryan Higgins in an attempt to run a bye off the final ball, but the latter stood his ground, and Tom Curran took off the bails at the non-strikers' end.

The Middlesex allrounder had, however, stepped out of his crease as he and Dawson crossed, meaning the Hampshire spinner was forced to come back from the boundary edge, having already almost walked off. 

As it turned out, the umpire had called a wide, and there was still another ball left for Dawson to face off Curran

All is well that ends well, from a London Spirit perspective, as Dawson launched the ball into the leg-side for a boundary as Donavan Fererria dropped a catch on the square-leg boundary. 

It was all a great confusion for the packed-out Kia Oval crowd, but ended with Spirit posting 152 for 7 in their innings. 

This report was brought to you in association with Kia – to find out more about why Kia is a leader in electrification, visit www.kia.com

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