As I wandered away from The Oval on Wednesday night, full of over-confidence and feckless optimism, a beautiful thought crossed my mind. What if the Oval Invincibles Women win The Hundred for the third year running, and even more deviously what if this time the Men joined them.
Fresh off the taste of victory I let myself get very carried away with fantasies of doing the double at Lord’s until I got to thinking, what if this really will happen?
Three on the Bounce
With my sensible hat on, I see a world where Dane van Niekerk captains the Invincibles to their third title. After a total collapse at the hands of a resurgent Welsh Fire, it was a return to form against the Manchester Originals.
Where the Invincibles stand out this year is their formidable top five. As an opening partnership, Suzie Bates and Lauren Winfield-Hill struck gold in 2022, reaching second and fourth in the run charts respectively.
For me though, the stand out is Alice Capsey at three. Be it in the men’s or women’s game, Capsey has that ability to totally flip a game. Always looking to take on the bowler, Capsey injects pace into an innings whether she arrives in the Powerplay or outside of it.
The best part for the South London outfit is that the batting goes on, with van Niekerk and Marizanne Kapp at four and five this is a team capable of recovering from a subpar start.
Where things get complicated are in the back end of the team. In 2022, the fast-bowling department was led by Shabnim Ismail’s electric pace. With Ismail off in Cardiff and Tash Farrant sidelined, the Invincibles’ bowling has seen better days.
The defining factor this season for the Invincibles will be to what extent their young bowling attack steps up. So far, signs have been incredibly promising. After being bowled out for 80 against Welsh Fire many assumed it would be a casual stroll to victory for the visitors, in reality the Fire lost 7 wickets and scored at a run a ball.
Although she’s had a quiet first couple of games I expect Sophia Smale’s left arm to play a massive role in any title defence. In 2022 she seemed to bring a wicket with every set she bowled, and I would be very hesitant to forget how effective she can be.
Perhaps more accurately, the biggest obstacle to a third victory is that Southern Brave look as strong as ever. For a competition in its infancy, the Women’s Hundred already has something of a rivalry forming between the two sides.
Having faced off in both finals, Southern Brave have fallen short twice. Early estimations suggest they’ll be near the top of the table, with multiple players having evolved from last year’s tournament. Two names to highlight are Maia Bouchier and Lauren Bell.
Bell has certainly attracted plenty of attention already due to her appearances for England, and her prodigious ability to swing the ball. A criticism of her in previous years has been a slightly errant control over line but this year she looks sharper than ever.
Speaking of sharper than ever, Bouchier appears to be making the jump from the fringes of the England squad to the fore. Arguably the best batter in this year’s edition so far, Bouchier adds a threat to the Southern Brave top order in the absence of Sophia Dunkley.
With Southern Brave firing on all cylinders and revamped Welsh Fire and Northern Superchargers sides in the mix, the Oval Invincibles face a tough task to make it three on the bounce. Yet, their mix of talent and experience gives them every chance in the world.
Quiet Confidence
In the first two years of The Hundred, the Oval Invincibles Men have channelled their inner Surrey and played the role of flattering to deceive. With recognisable names and plenty of England caps, they have always been a team that sounds better than the reality.
Oftentimes the batting (Jason Roy) has proven paper thin (bad) and prone to a collapse, with Sunil Narine floated up the order, or maybe Sam Curran, maybe even Tom Curran. Early signs suggest that maybe this year things could be different.
For one, the top order is beginning to show a little more functionality. After his classic first ball dismissal on Sunday, Jason Roy was closer to his best against the Originals. As one of their star players, Roy’s fortunes make a massive difference to the Oval side.
I adore Will Jacks, more than potentially anyone. But one player cannot make up for a non-existent top 4. This problem has perhaps been solved by the arrival of Heinrich Klaasen and the new and improved Jordan Cox.
At 3, Klaasen dragged the Invincibles into an unassailable position. The effect of this was that Sam Curran could now be floated up the order to 4. Having previously scoffed at this, it’s best to clarify the difference.
In last year’s competition, an early wicket would fall and out would come Sam Curran or Sunil Narine to have a swing. As much as I love a pinch hitter, this was simply symptomatic of a side without enough good top order players. Instead of it being a gamble to score some quick boundaries, it was because there were no other viable Powerplay options.
The funny part is that this season they appear to have found an extra one of these, with Jordan Cox developing a level of aggression he did not have last year. I often felt that he would come in early in 2022 and struggle to score freely, this season there can be no such claim. As a result, the Invincibles from 1 to 4 look as strong as they ever have.
Where the side shines is in its bowling attack. I could talk all day about Sunil Narine, but given his imminent replacement by Adam Zampa I want to focus on the players we’ll see until the end.
To make the world’s most premature assessment, the pace duo of Spencer Johnson and Gus Atkinson is one of the most dangerous in the competition. Both bowl at high speed, and within that both seem to have that always valuable trait of making batters look totally hurried.
Often a league side lives and dies by its overseas players, finding a more unexpected gem can bring any side into contention. Not to put too fine a point it, this is what Spencer Johnson could be offering. The movement he found with the new ball will make him a threat against any team, as highlighted by how well he tied down Jos Buttler.
If these two stay fit and available they make for a highly potent team. Also shout out to Nathan Sowter, the most quietly impressive performer for me so far.
In unexpected fashion, this is the most coherent Invincibles side yet. The batting has a clear structure, the bowling is consistently threatening, and the fielding is as sharp as ever. In short, yes they’re winning it all.
