Walter and Klaasen Power Manchester Super Giants Into Hundred Final After 20-Run Eliminator Win
Manchester Super Giants will play for the men's Hundred title at Lord's on Sunday after beating Sunrisers Leeds by 20 runs in the Eliminator at The Kia Oval. A stand of 114 off 52 balls between Paul Walter and Heinrich Klaasen — the tournament's knockout match between the teams finishing second and third in the group stage — turned the match decisively in Manchester's favour. (BBC Sport)
The Super Giants' innings began poorly. Tim Seifert fell to the second ball of the match, and when Zak Crawley was trapped lbw for six and Mitch Marsh managed only 10, Manchester were wobbling. Jos Buttler steadied things with 33 from 20, sharing a 57-run second-wicket partnership with Walter.
Then Walter and Klaasen took the game apart. Walter smashed 80 off 46 deliveries, clearing the rope eight times. Klaasen was even more brutal: 63 off just 26 balls, with four sixes of his own. The Hundred, for the uninitiated, gives each innings 100 balls — roughly 16 and a half overs in conventional cricket terms — so every delivery carries weight. Manchester's 186 for 4 was a mountain.
Leeds had their moments in the chase. Harry Brook, England's Test middle-order mainstay, crunched 49 off 31 balls to keep the required rate (the pace of scoring needed to win) within reach. Ryan Rickelton finished on 54 not out off 34, fighting to the last. But wickets kept falling at the other end, and Leeds closed on 166 for 7 — twenty short.
Josh Tongue was the bowler who did the damage. He returned figures of 4 for 26, striking at key moments to break whatever rhythm Leeds tried to build. Sonny Baker chipped in with 2 for 39. Nathan Ellis, bowling for Leeds, claimed the prized wicket of Klaasen — though by then the damage was long done.
What makes this result sting for Leeds is that they had Manchester three wickets down early and still conceded 186. Cricket's shortest professional format punishes small windows of weakness harshly. A few quiet balls here, a dropped chance there, and suddenly two set batters are teeing off with the field spread.
For Manchester, the reward is immediate: a Sunday final at Lord's against Trent Rockets. One more match, one more hundred balls each, and the trophy is theirs. For Leeds, the season ends at The Oval — close enough to hurt, far enough to know the gap was real.
