MI London moved to third in the table after securing a tense, last-ball victory against Southern Brave at the Utilita Bowl, finishing on 130 for 7. The match, played under lights on a difficult pitch, ended with Ollie Pope slicing a delivery from Nikhil Chaudhary through backward point to clinch a three-wicket win. The result marked a third consecutive loss for Southern Brave.
The visitors' successful pursuit of a 129-run target began shakily. Marcus Stoinis delivered a critical blow in the powerplay, taking two wickets in two balls by removing former Brave captain James Vince, who was caught in the deep by Tristan Stubbs, and dismissing Nicholas Pooran caught behind for a golden duck. Despite the early pressure, Will Jacks anchored the innings with a crucial 54, while Sam Curran contributed 30 before being bowled by Adil Rashid. Jacks and Sam Curran took the equation down to 76 required from the final 50 balls.
As the game entered its final stages, MI London required 37 runs from 21 balls. Stoinis returned to dismiss Jacks, finishing his spell with impressive figures of 3-17. Sherfane Rutherford attempted to shift the momentum by hitting Chris Jordan for two sixes, but Jordan responded by running him out with a direct hit. Further wickets of Tom Curran and Rashid Khan left MI London needing three runs from the final three balls.
After a dot ball, which saw Chaudhary injured in a challenging caught-and-bowled attempt, Trent Boult managed a single. This allowed Pope to face the final delivery and secure the winning runs. Earlier in the day, Jamie Smith top-scored with 49 to help Southern Brave reach 129 for 9, with Trent Boult taking 2-15, as the visitors needed every one of their 100-ball allocation. Reflecting on the result, Jacks, who was named the Meerkat Match Hero, noted the difficulty of batting on the surface and the importance of digging in after his recent struggles with the new ball.
Jacks, the Meerkat Match Hero, said: "A very tight one at the end there. Very relieved to get over the line. It was a hard-fought game on a tricky surface. We'd spoken about the new ball in The Hundred sometimes being the hardest time to bat. I've got out quite early in the last few games, so it was about assessing the conditions and digging in a bit deeper."
