Manchester Originals 181 for 6 (Salt 86) beat Trent Rockets 171 for 5 (Kohler-Cadmore 64, Tongue 3-32) by 10 runs
Manchester Originals edged out holders Trent Rockets by 10 runs to disappoint a record crowd at Trent Bridge, defending 181 for six after Phil Salt had smashed a stunning 86 off 32 balls.
A strong fightback from the home side's bowlers gave their side a chance, restricting the Originals to just 69 from their last 56 balls after Salt's 12 fours and five sixes had seen them 112 for one from 44 and on for a massive score.
Daniel Sams (2 for 28) and Lewis Gregory (2 for 30) were outstanding given that it was a flat pitch, with Luke Wood recovering from a 14-run mauling off his first set of five to finish with one for 31 from 20.
Yet Josh Tongue (3 for 32) and Paul Walter (2 for 24) were superb for the Originals, Walter's defending of 14 off the last set leaving most of the 15,500 spectators disappointed that Tom Kohler-Cadmore's 64 off 42, Colin Munro's 36 off 22 and Joe Root's 35 off 23 were not enough to get the job done as Originals moved level with second-placed Southern Brave on points and left the Rockets in fifth spot.
Reasoning that Trent Bridge is a tough ground to defend a total, Rockets opted to bowl first but may have been having regrets as Salt hammered 30 runs in the first 10 balls on the way to a half-century from just 20 balls as the Originals, 58 for one in the powerplay, set off at a ferocious pace.
Jos Buttler, a spectator as Salt found the boundary seven times in that opening assault, lifted his first delivery over the rope at extra cover but missed out on many more as Ish Sodhi grabbed a fine low catch at midwicket.
Sam Cook put Salt down on 47, a straightforward catch at deep square leg off Sodhi's bowling. But after feeling increasingly uncomfortable as the Lancashire player took him for back-to-back boundaries and a huge six over long-on, raising his boundary count to five sixes and 12 fours, it was Cook who had the last word, his next ball a slower one that bowled Salt behind his legs as he stepped across his stumps.
Now the Rockets took the pace off and Gregory accounted for Max Holden, caught at long off, and Ashton Turner, falling to a much more difficult catch by Cook on the legside rope in a 25-ball spell immediately after Salt's demise to ball 45 that saw just 30 runs added.
The home attack were bowling much smarter now and Sams picked up a second scalp with a slow yorker that was too good for Laurie Evans, while Wood, having conceded 14 in five balls at the top of the innings, went for just 11 in two sets, coming back for his final set to concede just six more and scatter Jamie Overton's stumps for good measure.
The Rockets would have been pleased with their work as they came off the field but 182 was still a demanding target to chase, one which looked bigger still as Alex Hales succumbed to the first legitimate ball of their innings, a near-unplayable ball from Tongue that had him caught behind off the splice.
Root and Kohler-Cadmore soothed the blow with 65 off 40 balls, Root getting off the mark with a single before bringing the reverse-ramp into play for his first boundary, but ultimately perishing playing a similar stroke, caught behind by an alert Buttler off the left-arm seam of Paul Walter. Nonetheless, at 84 for two from 50, the home side had a good base.
Kohler-Cadmore and Munro built on it pretty well but with 28 needed from 14 the outcome was in the balance and that balance tipped towards the Originals as Tongue returned to dismiss both in his final set, Munro caught behind off a thin inside-edge as the bowler cramped him for room before Kohler-Cadmore, looking to ease the pressure with time running out, holed out to point off a big top edge.
Zaman Khan went for nine runs off his final set to leave 14 needed by Rockets off the last five and Walter was up to task, conceding only three and picking up a second wicket as Sams holed out off the last ball.
