Nicholas Pooran powers Northern Superchargers to seven-wicket victory
Written by I Dig SportsNorthern Superchargers 147 for 3 (Pooran 62) beat Southern Brave 146 for 8 (Pollard 37) by seven wickets
Against an attack of Jofra Archer, Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills, Rehan Ahmed and Akeal Hosein, Pooran was dominant from the get-go - demonstrating both why he had been first pick in The Hundred Draft and also the power of using your own bat, having been forced to borrow Phil Salt's on his debut against Trent Rockets.
On a track where spin was always going to be important, Rashid's 1 for 19 contributed to Brave's total of 146 for 8 coming up perhaps a touch light - though it did still require Superchargers' second-highest chase in the competition - but at the interval James Vince and his side would have felt in the game.
Archer fired up and touched 93mph but from the 15th ball onwards it was Pooran show, the West Indian hitting five sixes and giving the Leeds crowd their fair share of catching practice on the way to a raucous home win.
Meerkat Match Hero Pooran said: "It feels amazing. After that first game we lost, playing back to back games here at home, we wanted the win.
"The guys played brilliantly, and I think the bowlers did amazingly.
"It's always beautiful to play here in England. The surface, the atmosphere - it's lovely."