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The Hundred | Team Preview: Oval Invincibles look to go all guns blazing

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The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has come up with a unique idea of this format of the game ‘The Hundred’. The women’s tournament is slated to begin on July 21 while the men’s competition commences on July 22. 

The new version will have some interesting features such as a five-ball over, 25-ball Powerplay and much more. The inaugural edition of the tournament begins with the Oval Invincibles women’s team taking on Manchester Originals at The Oval. 

Oval’s men’s side suffered a blow ahead of the tournament when Nepal’s Sandeep Lamichhane had to opt out of the tournament after he could not complete the procedures required to compete in the tournament even after reaching England. 

“I am extremely gutted for missing out on The Hundred. I was so looking forward to play for my team Oval Invincibles and followed all the instructions that was given to me by the ECB officials,” Sandeep said in a Facebook post on his timeline. 

“I came in the UK by July 9, had no issues whatsoever at the immigration and moved into the government managed quarantine facility to complete my quarantine. On July 18, two days before my quarantine completion, I was told by ECB that my visa is not valid and I have to leave the country ASAP.”

“I have been asking what went wrong but apparently no one at the ECB have the correct answer. I can totally understand that things can go south at anytime, however I at least deserve a clear answer on why my valid visa is not valid anymore,” said Sandeep

Here we take a look at Oval’s squads and what they have in the kitty. 

Oval Invincibles men’s squad

Sam Billings, Alex Blake, Rory Burns, Jordan Clark, Jordan Cox, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Laurie Evans, Brandon Glover, Colin Ingram (South Africa), Will Jacks, Saqib Mahmood, Sunil Narine (West Indies), Jason Roy, Tabraiz Shamsi (South Africa), Nathan Sowter, Reece Topley

Coach: Tom Moody

Banking on Big guns

Oval Invincibles seem to have one of the strongest squads in the competition. They have some names in the ranks who can win games single-handedly on their day. In the first place, the presence of Sam Curran in the squad brings a lot of stability in the side both with the ball and the bat. 

The youngster has the ability to pick up wickets at crucial stages while can play a handy role with the bat too down the order. The left-hander has unveiled some instances of this in the IPL for CSK as well as for his national side. 

One major aspect of his batting that will surely suit this kind of format is that Curran doesn’t really take much time in getting his eye in. He can increase the scoring rate at any given stage which plays a crucial role for his side. 

Apart from Sam, the likes of Jason Roy, Sunil Narine, Colin Ingram, Rory Burns and Sam Billings are some of the prominent faces in the side. 

While Roy has the ability to give a brisk start to the team, Ingram and Billings can capitalise on that in the later part of the game. West Indies Sunil Narine is another member in the squad who has been pretty handy with the bat for the T20 franchises that he has played especially while opening the innings and has stamped his authority with the ball at the highest level and can deceive any batsman. 

The skipper would be looking to use his services in the middle overs to restrict the opposition to a lesser total.     

Powerful bowling

Well, if we take a glance at the bowling attack, the Oval team probably has one of the most stable bowling attacks. The unit comprises an efficient left-arm pacer, quick right-arm fast bowlers and experienced spinner. 

While Sam Curran can set up a batsman pretty well and scalp his wicket, Saqib Mahmood is quick enough to threaten the batsmen with his pace. He would try to pepper the batting attack with short deliveries. 

He is coming into the tournament on the back of some good performances against Pakistan for the national side and would be riding high on confidence. 

Narine as we talked about is someone who can deceive any batsmen and the right-arm spinner has shown this a number of times while playing for West Indies and in the T20 leagues. 

Chances of lifting the trophy

The kind of steadiness that the Oval Invincibles side has, they can expect some fruitful results. The team has some of the finest players who have a lot of experience of playing all around the globe and that would essentially be helpful and bring positive results for them in this inaugural season. 

Probable XI

Jason Roy, Will Jacks, Colin Ingram, Laurie Evans, Sam Billings (WK), Jordan Clark, Sam Curran (C), Tom Curran, Sunil Narine, Saqib Mahmood, Brandon Glover

Oval Invincibles women’s squad

Georgia Adams, Megan Belt, Sarah Bryce, Alice Capsey, Tash Farrant, Jo Gardner, Grace Gibbs, Eva Gray, Danielle Gregory, Shabnim Ismail (South Africa), Marizanne Kapp (South Africa), Rhianna Southby, Dane van Niekerk (South Africa), Mady Villiers, Fran Wilson

Coach: Jonathan Batty

Bowling heavy unit

The Oval Invincibles women’s team have some world class bowlers in Marizanne Kapp, Dane van Niekerk and Shabnim Ismail who can help the side restrict the opposition to low scores. 

While Kapp’s pace bowling can give some tough time to the opponents, van Niekerk’s leg-spin will play an important role in the middle overs and would provide the team with some variety in the bowling. 

Talented youngster in the side

Allrounder Alice Capsey who is 16-year-old would be the youngest player in The Hundred. She is known for her fielding abilities and can also score some runs which would eventually help the side. 

Chances of lifting the title

With a mix of some experienced and young players, Oval Invincible look a steady side. They do have a chance of producing some positive results in the competition. 

Probable XI

Georgia Adams, Sarah Bryce (wk), Fran Wilson, Dane van Niekerk, Marizanne Kapp, Mady Villiers, Alice Capsey, Shabnim Ismail, Tash Farrant, Jo Gardner and Grace Gibbs

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