Twitter Reactions: Laurie Evans shine in Oval Invincibles' thrilling chase against London Spirit

Oval Invincibles came up trumps against London Spirit in the 28th The Hundred Men’s fixture to gain the second position on the points table. Having elected to bat first, Spirit posted a more-than-competitive 146/7 courtesy of skipper Eoin Morgan’s 20-ball-41 onslaught, which had five sixes and a four.

Spirit made a sedate start, with opener Joe Denly struggling to find momentum, even as Adam Rossington, who got 28 off 20 before being knocked over by Sunil Narine, kept accelerating from his end. Invincibles struck in quick succession as Josh Inglis was pinned lbw by Tabraiz Shamsi cheaply only three balls after Rossington’s exit, but that was when Morgan’s entry with some belligerent intentions infused momentum in their innings.

Looking well-set for a quickfire half-century, Morgan was undone by Shamsi as he top-edged him to Saqib Mahmood. The Spirit endured a brief blip as Shamsi cleaned up Ravi Bopara for a golden duck on the immediately following delivery, while Joe Denly could not put bat to Tom Curran’s yorker to be cleaned up for a run-a-ball 35. In between Bopara and Denly’s dismissal was Joe Cracknell’s exit, who was removed by Reece Topley, but a 10-ball 20 cameo from Roelof van der Merwe ensured that Invincibles had a stiff target to chase.

Lauri Evans rescue 

Out to chase, Invincibles were in a sure spot of bother at 14/3 early on, with Jason Roy, Sunil Narine and Colin Ingram all back in the hut with single-digit scores against their names as van der Merwe struck twice in a space of three balls, getting Roy and Narine before Wheal castled Ingram for just 2.

The rut was halted by Will Jacks, who had the lion’s share in the fourth-wicket 38-run stand alongside Sam Billings, although Billings found Bopara at point off Mason Crane to leave his side at 52/4. That was when Laurie Evans joined forces with Jacks to force the team back into the competition. The duo added 57 off 32 for the fifth wicket, with Evans signaling his intentions right from the start.

Bopara struck to send back Jacks for 44 off 26 to once again tilt the balance of the contest, however, Evans, who was the only other double-digit scorer for his team alongside Jacks, denied to drop the guard, despite wickets falling regularly from the other end. He remained unbeaten on 67 off 37, with four sixes and as many fours, while the lower-order hung in alongside him just enough to take Invincibles across, as they secured a two-wicket win with five balls to spare.

Here’s how Twitter reacted: