The Analysis: Adam Rossington cashes in as Northern Superchargers let themselves down

NICK HOWSON: A competitive-looking match at the halfway stage went the way of London Spirit after the Essex keeper-batter hit The Hundred's fastest fifty

Headingley was a husk of a venue. Fans sweltering in the heat, perhaps nursing something from the evening prior, and the home team Northern Superchargers served up a rotten performance.

You do wonder how much the outcomes of these matches matter to those that attend, such is the onus on entertainment, new eyes and the fact these sides are around a dozen games old.

No one could convince me there is an emotional attachment to any of the 16 sides just a few games into the second edition of the competition.

But this was a kind of display that would require a special general meeting, would get fans spewing on social media and pile pressure on the leadership group. While we haven't reached that stage in The Hundred, it doesn't mean this performance isn't worth unpicking.

From the moment Adam Lyth poked the ball to Kieron Pollard, as Superchargers recorded the lowest score men's Hundred score from the first two sets, and was dismissed for a duck there was a feeling this would not be their day.

Had it not been for Adam Hose and Michael Pepper, who put on 35 in the final 17 balls, they wouldn't have got close to the 143 for 5 they eventually got.

^{Dwayne Bravo lost his cool in the chase (Ashley Allen/Getty Images)}

It was a tough, slow surface that offered turn for the spinners and kept low for the quicks. Glenn Maxwell was superb with the new ball, Mason Crane was near-perfect in taking 2 for 23 and Nathan Ellis showed glimpses of why Hampshire won the T20 Blast.

Entering the fourth innings of the day, you could make a decent case for the Superchargers. Their women had just defended 128 in the early game when a combination of slower balls and dipping yorkers made all the difference.

With an arsenal containing David Willey, debutant Wahab Riaz, Dwayne Bravo and Adil Rashid there was every chance they could make it two from two.

Instead, the Superchargers were dismantled and effectively beaten before 4pm. Roelof van der Merwe was taken apart, thanks to a trio of sixes from Adam Rossington. On an afternoon where physical activity is not recommended, fans were asked to take evasive action as the Essex keeper-batter peppered the long-on boundary.

"A look at a Spirit line-up that contains Glenn Maxwell, Dan Lawrence, Eoin Morgan and Kieron Pollard and you'd be forgiven for singling out Rossington as the weak link"

It was when Wahah and Bravo - deployed ahead of schedule after 41 came from the first 15 - were being deposited into the stands that the crisis became full-blown. Rossington flicked an awful leg-side delivery over deep backward square and then battered a Bravo full-toss over mid-wicket.

Superchargers captain Faf du Plessis revealed that after winning the toss, he had no idea how to approach the game, sticking his side in and hoping for the best. The same policy seemed to go for the bowling effort, with a simple strategy of bowling cutters, short into the pitch and allowing the slowness of the surface to do the rest completely abandoned.

Van der Merwe went at 2.13 runs a ball, disappearing over the boundary as many times as the Superchargers were able to manage during their entire innings. His quick and probing left-arm angle has undone many a batter in the past, but he offered no changes of pace and was easy pickings.

It is important to highlight the role of Rossington, for there is one thing to get some rubbish bowling and another entirely to take advantage of it. He crunched seven maximums and three fours, reaching the second fastest T20 fifty by an Englishman (15 balls). "Boshingtons from Rossington," was how Mark Butcher put it.

^{Glenn Maxwell departs but London Spirit are already halfway to the knockout stage (Ashley Allen/Getty Images)}

Marcus Trescothick's 13-ball effort for Somerset against Hampshire in 2010 remains the standard.

Yet to play overseas franchise cricket, it is interesting to note that he has entered himself for the Big Bash League draft at the end of the month. An able gloveman, he might be an outside option as someone who will be available for the duration of the competition.

A look at a Spirit line-up that contains Glenn Maxwell, Dan Lawrence, Eoin Morgan and Kieron Pollard and you'd be forgiven for singling out Rossington as the weak link. With the former departing for Australia, he'll have a big role during the second half of the competition.

"We wanted to get ahead of the rate early, and it was my day today," the player of the match said. "I just keep looking to hit the sightscreen as hard as possible."

Now four from four, one of the beauties of the format is Spirit cannot afford to let up. Top spot offers a direct route into the final, with second and third playing off to join them. With four to play, two more wins are probably good enough to do that.

Contrastingly, this was a third loss on the spin for Superchargers as a gap threatens to open up between the top five and bottom three, who have won one game and have taken heavy blows to their net run rate. The positive is they can't surely bowl this badly again, the negative is there are only four games left to get it right.

Related Topics

• Northern Superchargers v London Spirit AS IT HAPPENED