London Spirit vs Manchester Originals Prediction: Can the Originals keep the miracle going?

I’d be honest here about the Men’s Hundred, the last year's celebration has been missing. Major stars are not in the scene and frankly, the way it began, the tournament held a lot of promise but even England star players have prioritized either the Royal London One Day Cup or have given the national team way more importance. Still, despite some missing sparks, the tournament has produced some electric moments as some of the top crickets have gathered to celebrate the festival of 100 deliveries. The festival has reached a Short Playoffs window, consisting of the Eliminator and the Final. In the eliminator, the winner between London Spirit and Manchester Originals will face the Trent Rockets.

The London Spirit comes into the game after losing to Birmingham Phoenix in their last Group Stage Game. It was a thrilling game that went to the last ball but the Pheonix came through during the last ball. In that game, veteran Ravi Bopara played a strong hand of 45 runs off just 20 deliveries. In terms of bowling, spinner Mason Crane went for just 24 runs in the quota of 20 balls, while picking up four wickets.

Although Crane took four in the last game, it has been the fantastic performance of Jordan Thompson as a bowler, who has taken 14 wickets at an average of around 15, taking two or more wickets in five of the eight games. Crane has done well too, taking 10 of them, while also not conceding a lot of runs. In terms of batting, Adam Rossington has played some solid hands, scoring 164 while Eoin Morgan has been the second-highest run scorer with 130 runs. The Spirit had a wild card player in form of Kieron Pollard but he is now gone to the CPL.

The Originals come into this game after a thrilling second-last ball win against the Oval Invincibles. In that game, they needed 11 of the last set of 5 and there Paul Walter’s six over deep midwicket brought the equation closer with three balls to spare. This game was however punctuated by the godly numbers put by Josh Little, who ended up with a five-for while conceding just 13 runs. In terms of batting, Wayne Madsen's 53 of 39 deliveries set-up the chase of 144.

The going became tougher for Manchester because they were missing white-ball maestro Jos Buttler, who made 203 runs in just five innings at an electric rate but was ruled out for the rest of the tournament due to a calf strain. Phil Salt amassed 313 in just eight innings to help the Originals to make it this far while the aforementioned Wayne Madsen has been rock-solid in the middle but still could have done more. Josh Little’s outburst has now made the bowling look solid whereas Phil Walter has had his moments too.

The Spirit and the Originals have met twice, with the Spirit winning both games. The first one was won by the Spirit with a difference of just six runs while they registered a 52-run win in the second encounter, stalling the Originals to just 108. That game was highlighted by Kieron Pollard’s six-laden 11-ball 34 runs innings.

The Originals surely needed Butler for this encounter. Look, they have had a solid season but if Phil Salt departs early, it can be curtains considering that despite some decent knocks by Wayne Madsen, the middle order looks a tad vulnerable. With the departure of Andre Russell, their middle order has weakened even further. For the Spirit. Adam Rossington has been in great touch, Eoin Morgan gives solid experience but Zak Crawley and Ben McDermott will have to do a lot of lifting. To be honest, the middle-order looks solid but both teams are missing their power hitters.

In terms of bowling, Little’s outburst in the last game is bound to raise the spirit of the Originals, a team that desperately needs him. However, the Spirit’s bowling looks certainly better with Liam Dawson and Mason Crane providing off-break and leg break one-two punch as a left and right-hand combination. Jordan Thompson is the strike bowler but these two complements the bowling lineup. I am leaning towards the Spirit here to win this one.