A Review of The Hundred So Far

The Hundred is a 100-ball professional cricket tournament involving men’s and women’s teams from a number of major cities across England and Wales. Locations include Leeds, Manchester, Cardiff, Southampton, Nottingham, London, and Birmingham.  With the event’s first-ever tournament currently underway and the final match set to take place on August 21, results are continuing to pour in. Continue reading to find out everything you need to know about The Hundred 2021 so far.

The rules

As a brand-new competition, a number of cricket fans were apprehensive about the format of the games and were quick to draw comparisons to the Twenty20, or T20. One of the first rules is that the toss does not have to take place on the ground. Each inning will also only include 100 balls as opposed to 120 at T20. Finally, The Hundred has decided to ignore the age-old rule of overs in cricket and instead divide 100 balls into blocks of five deliveries with bowlers permitted to bowl a maximum of two consecutive blocks of five deliveries.

The first match

After a two-year-long wait and banking on the popularity of the T20 cricket tournament, The Hundred finally kicked off on July 21 with a women’s match between Manchester’s Originals and London’s Oval Invincibles. With a 7,395-strong crowd cheering them on, both teams were off to a solid start. It was Manchester Originals captain Kate Cross’ turn to bat first before striking three times in her first seven balls in the run chase. Oval Invincibles appeared to be falling behind with 12 for 3 and 36 for 4 but Dane van Niekerk pulled it back by adding 73 with Marizanne Kapp. The Oval Invincibles lead their team to victory in the end by five wickets and two balls remaining. Dane van Niekerk was later crowned the player of the match.

 Predictions so far

 With the final match of this year’s tournament set to take place on August 21, cricket fans are already familiarising themselves with the latest cricket betting and odds ahead of each upcoming match. For example, a number of cricket experts have already predicted a Northern Superchargers victory at this year’s event. Southern Brave is also predicted to excel while Birmingham Phoenix, London Spirit and Welsh Fire are considered outsiders. To date, Southern Brave and Trent Rockets are some of the event’s frontrunners poised to win. But with a number of surprising results so far, any team could step up to the plate and walk away with the coveted prize money at the end of the month.

Key standout moments

As with any major sporting tournament, the games have already provided fans with a number of key standout moments. 16-year-old Alice Capsey made history when she scored 59 from 41 balls, including 10 fours, during Oval Invincibles second win over London Spirit on July 25. With a crowd of over 13,000 cheering her on, she now has her sights set on the England national team. As a result, Oval Invincibles are the team to beat at this year’s tournament. Another standout moment came in the form of Trent Rockets’ win against Northern Superchargers. Despite losing wickets, Alex Hales stepped in to hit a six to win and caused a crowd frenzy. Finally, this year’s The Hundred was a defining moment in Abtaha Maqsood’s cricket career. At only 22-years-old, the up-and-coming Scottish bowler made waves on the pitch during her debut with Birmingham Phoenix whilst wearing a hijab.

As we reach the halfway point of The Hundred, the tournament has already given us a number of standout moments and surprise results. With two weeks to go, the ball is in anyone’s court.