As the Hundred group stages concluded over the weekend, the race to qualify for the knockout stage went right down to the wire. What a statement Southern Brave have delivered! They got through to the final at Lord’s on 31 August after winning all seven of their matches, sealing their place with a game to spare.
Southern Brave have been the team to beat with a stunning tournament-long performance. This milestone firmly cements their supremacy and lays out an unmistakable road to the finals. As the top team in the competition, they will now focus on maintaining their winning streak in their final group match against Welsh Fire on 28 August.
For London Spirit, time is a bit shorter. They would then face a do-or-die situation in their final match against the Invincibles on 25 August. And even if they do win, they’ll need some combination of specific outcomes in other games to advance. Qualification for the knock-out stage could be decided on net run-rate. This critical metric is one of the best indicators of a team’s overall scoring efficiency during the tournament.
Birmingham Phoenix, Manchester Originals, and Welsh Fire have steep hills to climb. Despite the odds, they are all undaunted and fighting to stay hopeful. Each of these teams needs to win out. They must rely on an improbable combination of outcomes from all three teams in front of them to win the day. They need to achieve wins to remain in the running. Even then, their fate will still come down to net run-rate.
It sees Trent Rockets really well placed in the race for knockout qualification. However, with just two matches left to play, they require only a single victory. Earning that triumph would put them in the company of the Invincibles and Superchargers. This puts them in a good spot as the tournament nears its conclusion.
The structure of The Hundred features eight group matches for each team, with the top three advancing to the knockout stages. Any teams who finish in fourth through eighth are knocked out of the running. Net run-rate is an incredibly big deal in cricket. It acts as an important secondary tiebreaker in determining which teams advance when points are tied. It is defined as the formula of team’s run-rate minus opposition’s run-rate.
The math is different if a side is bowled out during their 100-ball allocation. This fine-tuning takes place mainly within the The Hundred format. To determine their run-rate, take the total runs scored and divide it by the total overs allowed (30 overs = 180 max runs—6 runs per over). In this example, that’s 100 balls.
With the end of the tournament fast approaching, Southern Brave and London Spirit need to win all their remaining games to stand a chance. These matches will have a huge impact on their prospects of advancing. It’s likely that the net run-rate will turn out to have been the decisive factor.
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