Since the start of 2023, Oval Invincibles have won 78.2% of their matches. No side in any major men’s T20 league can better that record.<\/p>\n
Muyeye said playing in this team “feels like playing for Chicago Bulls in the 1990s” on Saturday, such is the talent. <\/p>\n
Inspired by the great Michael Jordan, the Bulls twice completed a three-peat. Would anyone bet against Invincibles completing their first by the time the month is out?<\/p>\n
They are a franchise built on stability, led by the calm influence of coach Tom Moody.<\/p>\n
Six of their players \u2013 Curran, brother Tom, Cox, Jacks, captain Sam Billings and spinner Nathan Sowter – have played more than 25 matches for the team in The Hundred. No other side can match that number.<\/p>\n
It is clear to see why Curran said playing for the Invincibles it is “like turning up to work and playing with your mates”. <\/p>\n
Their squads have also been cleverly crafted.<\/p>\n
Whether by accident or design, their England internationals are not Test regulars. <\/p>\n
Where other teams are hurt when the likes of Ben Stokes, Jamie Smith or Ollie Pope have their playing time limited by Test exploits, Invincibles’ biggest names are almost always available.<\/p>\n
Smart, too, has been their work in the draft – or this year’s direct signings.<\/p>\n
In each of the past three seasons they have spent big money on a world-class overseas spinner, with Australia’s Adam Zampa, West Indies’ Sunil Narine and Afghanistan international Rashid Khan – three of the best in the world – signed for more than \u00a3100,000.<\/p>\n
Left-armer quicks, another staple of successful T20 teams, have been targeted too. Spencer Johnson played in 2023 and 2024 and Behrendorff this year, both complemented by Sam Curran. <\/p>\n
The result is a bowling attack packed with variety. <\/p>\n
Since the start of 2023 edition, they have taken 31 wickets inside the powerplay, the second most for any side.<\/p>\n
At the death in that time, they concede runs at 1.59 per ball – the record best for any side – with the Curran brothers coming to the fore.<\/p>\n
When batting themselves, Invincibles have hit 92 sixes in the final 25 balls across The Hundred’s five seasons, 21 more than the next best side. <\/p>\n
Their batting line-up is long – Jacks and Muyeye consistent at the top, Cox in the form of his life and Billings the steady hand in the middle.<\/p>\n
The skipper has finished not out in six successful run chases in the men’s Hundred.<\/p>\n
It is no wonder they are so successful.<\/p>\n
Additional reporting by CriciViz analyst Kieran Parmley<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Since the start of 2023, Oval Invincibles have won 78.2% of their matches. No side in any major…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":78765,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":["post-78764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cricket","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78764\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}