Archive August 31, 2025

Lord’s, Lord’s, and The Hundred Men’s Competition Final.

Oval Invincibles 168-5 (100 balls): Jacks 72 (41), Cox 40 (28)

Trent Rockets 142-8 (100 balls): Stoinis 64 (37), Sowter 3-25

By 26 runs, Invincibles won.

In the men’s final, Trent Rockets defeated Oval Invincibles by 26 runs to win their third straight Hundred title, Will Jacks hit a brilliant 72 from 41 balls.

Invincibles, who had won the title, came in as clear favorites and lived up to their word at Lord’s.

Invincibles posted 168-5, making it the highest individual score in a men’s Hundred final for the team. Jacks then hit the first ball of the match down the ground for four.

A 32-ball fifty was achieved by the England right-hander with an 87-run partnership with Jordan Cox, who also hit seven fours and two sixes, including an enormous blow into the top tier, to make it all possible.

At the halfway point, Rockets’ success was matched by the fact that they only conceded 25 runs from the final 20 balls.

However, despite a relatively young start, it quickly looked beyond them and required a competition-record-setting chase at Lord’s.

Not Australia star Adam Zampa, who was flown in just for the final-but frequently overlooked compatriot Nathan Sowter, made the telling contribution.

In his first 10-ball set, he removed Joe Root, Rehan Ahmed, and Tom Banton, leaving the Rockets reeling, for just three runs.

Rockets came out on top with a 64 from 37 balls before Marcus Stoinis made it too late, and the game ended poorly, 142-8.

It wasn’t quite Zak Crawley, Rory Burns, or Steve Harmison.

However, Jacks’ ease of David Willey’s first ball back down the ground for four wasn’t all that bad when first balls are used as indicators of what will come next.

The opener backing his timing, not trying to knock it out of the park, and knowing that it would hit the mark, gave the shot a certain air.

Later, the fireworks could arrive, which they did.

The only surprise was Jacks’ failure to kick on to reach his century after bludgeoning his 51st and 52nd sixes, which are the second most in the Hundred’s history.

He did not seem to be slowing down his attack, but his 172.60 strike rate demonstrated how decisively he led the Rockets attack from the first ball.

With 15 balls remaining in the inning, Stoinis’ slower ball eventually made sense for him, and the Rockets were damaged despite Invincibles’ customary late-game explosion of boundaries not coming.

A few early boundaries for Banton would not bother them because this is an Invincibles side that is only used to winning.

Many people claim that I’ll be called up for England, but that’s only going to happen if I score runs for the team I’m playing for, so I’m just trying to get runs out there every time.

David Willey, the captain of the Trent Rockets, said, “We are very disappointed by the way we have lost.”

“I enjoy being the captain, and I enjoy the challenge. I want to keep doing it because it highlights my best qualities in my game.

Nathan Sowter, the bowler for the Oval Invincibles, said, “An incredible season again. Every game, a different player has stood up, so credit to all the boys.

With the hashtag “Make a statement,” Arsenal sent the early heavyweight fight to Premier League champions Liverpool to Anfield.

The contest was intended to be a meeting between the pretenders who have recently lost the title and the clubs that currently hold it.

It’s difficult to ignore the thought that the cloak of caution Arteta draped over Arsenal makes this a significant missed opportunity to secure a landmark – albeit very rare – Anfield victory following Dominik Szoboszlai’s brilliant 83rd-minute free-kick.

On account of this extreme conservatism, Arsenal failed to read the pre-game memo.

No one would anticipate manager Arteta ordering his players to sink Liverpool in their Anfield fortress, but this was a Gunners’ display that appeared to aim for nothing.

With deals worthing over £248 million, Arteta has the tools to address that shortfall as the biggest net spender of the transfer window so far.

The most notable of all of them was the signing of a well-known striker, Viktor Gyokeres, from Portuguese outfit Sporting for £64 million, and then, most eye-catching, the coup that saw Arsenal sign Eberechi Eze from Tottenham Hotspur for a £60 million move from Crystal Palace.

After five years without a trophy, Arteta is under enormous pressure, and this includes the Premier League or Champions League titles.

After squandering a magnificent free-kick past David Raya from 30 yards, Arsenal ultimately lost a dour, largely colorless encounter. The two teams showed great respect each other until Szoboszlai curved a magnificent direct free-kick past Raya.

In the end, Liverpool made the big early title debut against Arsenal, the team’s closest rival, by making it a maximum nine-from-nine without ever exceeding the standards that led to their berth in the Premier League last year.

Arsenal’s early psychological blow caused them to suffer a crushing defeat against Liverpool, which prevented them from changing their storyline of misery.

Since winning 2-0 at Anfield in September 2012, the Gunners have won eight of their previous 13 Premier League games. They have drawn eight and lost eight. Additionally, they haven’t kept a clean sheet in their last 27 league appearances at Anfield since that 2012 victory.

Arteta will logically address the compensating factors for the injury that caused Bukayo Saka, the shoulder injury that limited captain Martin Odegaard to the bench, and the problem William Saliba’s key defender sustained that caused him to miss five minutes of action.

Eze was surprisingly kept back until the final 20 minutes when he flashed his future plans and what he might have offered had he been introduced earlier, or even even right away, while Arsenal switched him to Mikel Merino at the number 10 position.

Merino offered a level of security and experience.

Despite their solidity and organization, the Gunners simply have to find a way to close the gap that has been widening over them in recent years, which may give Arteta reason to wonder whether they may need a more radical approach to keep Liverpool’s title.

According to Arteta, “it was going to be decided by an individual error or a magic moment.” It’s impossible to dominate for 90 minutes in this place. At the conclusion of the game, I stated that we must find a winning combination.

When you have the ball, you must put it in the back of the net. We performed significantly better than we did last year. If you want to win the game, we must put the ball in the back of the net.

You must take a lot of advantages away from the game, he added. I haven’t witnessed Liverpool suffering at home like they did against us.

Although Liverpool struggled for fluency and were frustrated, the beaten Arsenal manager’s “suffering” is unquestionably an exaggeration of events.

The only time the shackles were released was when Arsenal trailed, leaving Liverpool’s rearguard with the most resistance it had to withstand this season.

When he did get possession, Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate brushed aside the new striker Gyokeres, who had been out of action for too long.

Arsenal did not play well, but they did it against a Liverpool team, which has encouraged those teams who are willing to put up a fight for themselves this season.

Although the image and advantage of Liverpool are still in its early stages.

Arteta was playing when Arsenal won the previous game at Anfield in 2012.