Originals jump to fourth on the back of Overton and Mir heroics
Written by I Dig SportsManchester Originals 182 for 6 (Overton 83*, Evans 41, Topley 3-29) beat Northern Superchargers 141 for 9 (Short 37, Mir 4-19) by 40 runs via DLS method
Originals struggled with the new ball as they lost captain Jos Buttler and fellow opener Phil Salt in Reece Topley's first 10 deliveries, with the England left-armer finishing with figures of three for 29. However, their progress with the ball was stemmed by brutal hitting from Overton.
Superchargers did offer periods of resistance in their chase through Matthew Short and Saif Zaib, but Originals' total of 182 proved far too much for the Leeds-based team.
Having elected to bat at the toss, Originals had a nightmare start after Topley removed Salt, who had mistimed his shot which found Zaib at point, after only three balls. He then removed Originals captain Buttler for two, who edged a delivery into the gloves of Tom Banton.
After a rain delay, which meant the contest was reduced to 90 balls per side, Superchargers struck back with two wickets in two balls.
First, Paul Walter departed for 22 after he skied a Brydon Carse delivery to a running Callum Parkinson at deep third, before Adil Rashid struck with his first ball to remove the dangerous Evans for 41 off 19 deliveries.
Coming in at six, Overton smashed a Rashid delivery over the long-on boundary for six before Originals lost the wickets of overseas pair, Ashton Turner and Mir to Parkinson and Topley respectively.
Then the Overton massacre began, in a partnership worth 72 with Tom Hartley, 62 of them came from the blade of the Surrey man, including a magnificent six from a Carse short ball, which sailed into the Western Terrace.
Overton then hit the impressive Topley's final set for 20, which included two fours and two sixes, to dent the figures of the tournament's top wicket-taker. He then smashed 16 off the final set of the Originals' innings to lead them to a total of 182 for six, with the all-rounder finishing not out on 83 from 30 balls.
In their reply, Superchargers got off to a slow start, with just 18 runs coming from the first 15 balls.
Australian Short hit the first six of the innings when he pulled a short ball from former Superchargers man Ben Raine over the ropes. The opener then hit a picture perfect cover drive for six before being bowled by the magical Mir for 37 off 16 balls.
Two balls later, Mir took the wicket of the in-form Banton, who was bowled for 12 and then removed Adam Hose, after he tried to find the boundary with a reverse sweep, but could only find Walter at backward point.
England's Harry Brook looked good for 20, which included a six over the Rugby stand akin to Liam Livingstone's one against Pakistan in 2021, but he became Mir's fourth victim after he holed out to long-off.
Superchargers' hopes of victory then faltered, with only Zaib and Wayne Parnell putting up some resistance. The rest of the batting line-up departed cheaply to leave the Superchargers 141 for nine, resulting in a 40 run victory for Originals.