Sunrisers Leeds smashed the highest total in the history of The Hundred, posting 241 for 2 against London Spirit at Headingley on Tuesday, with Harry Brook’s blistering 18-ball fifty setting the ground alight in the final overs.
Ryan Rickelton finished unbeaten on 94 off 42 balls and picked up the Player of the Match award, while Spirit’s David Willey fought hard with 83 not out, but his side fell short by 37 runs in a match that produced a combined 446 runs, a new aggregate record for the tournament.
Marsh and Rickelton Build a Record Opening Stand
Mitchell Marsh and Rickelton gave Sunrisers a flying start after London Spirit chose to field first. The pair added 148 runs for the first wicket, the highest opening partnership in the men’s competition, overtaking the 127 that Tom Curran and Jimmy Neesham had put together for Oval Invincibles back in 2023.
Marsh reached his fifty off just 24 balls and became this year’s leading run-scorer in the process, moving well clear of Jos Buttler on the season’s six-hitting charts. He eventually fell for 76 off 37 deliveries, caught at deep extra cover, and walked off to a standing ovation from the Headingley crowd. Sunrisers had raced to 119 without loss inside the first 50 balls, itself a new halfway-stage record for the format.
Brook’s Fastest Fifty Pushes the Total Past 240
Brook walked in after Marsh’s dismissal and took time to settle, working the ball around for a couple of quiet singles before unleashing his full array of shots. His half-century arrived off just 18 balls, matching Adam Rossington’s 15-ball effort from 2022 for the fastest in Hundred history, and included a no-look six that summed up the mood at the ground.
Sunrisers crossed the 200-run mark off only 85 balls, the eighth time a team has managed that feat in the tournament and the third occasion this year alone. By the time the innings closed, Sunrisers had hit 21 sixes, another tournament record, and their final total of 241 for 2 eclipsed the previous best of 226 for 4 set by Oval Invincibles last season. All four Sunrisers batters who came to the crease finished with a strike rate above 200.
Willey’s Late Surge Falls Short as Spirit Chase 242
London Spirit’s chase never really got going after Reece Topley struck twice in his opening spell, removing Jonny Bairstow without scoring and then dismissing Lhuan-dre Pretorius soon after. Liam Livingstone hit three sixes before falling to Nathan Ellis for 34, and wickets continued to fall at regular intervals through the middle overs.
Willey arrived at No. 7 and reached his own fifty off 31 balls, dragging Spirit back into the contest alongside Jamie Overton, who remained unbeaten on 27. Spirit added ten sixes of their own late in the innings, taking the match total to 31 sixes overall, but the equation of 100 runs from the last 25 balls proved too steep. They finished on 204 for 6, their second successive 200-plus total in this year’s competition, as Sunrisers moved up to fourth in the points table.
Speaking after the match, Rickelton credited the Headingley surface for the run flood, saying both sides had batted well and that teams simply had to accept some big shots would fly given the conditions on offer.
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