The Hundred Men’s 2023: Spencer Johnson caps Oval Invincibles debut with freakish three-for

Spencer Johnson. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Australian fast bowler Spencer Johnson bowled menacingly during the 13th match in the ongoing Hundred Men’s competition between Oval Invincibles (OVI) and Manchester Originals (MNR) at the Kennington Oval in London. Powered by blistering half-centuries from Jason Roy (59 off 42 balls) and Heinrich Klaasen (60 off 27 balls), the home side registered a daunting score of 186/5 in their 100 balls. Jos Buttler’s men had no other option but to go aggressively from ball one. However, Johnson thwarted their plans as he went on to bowl one of the best spells in the history of the competition.

Bowling to the destructive opening duo of Jos Buttler and Phil Salt isn’t easy. However, the tall left-arm pacer moved the new ball both ways and gave the two right-handers a tough time in the middle. Bowling at good heat, Johnson conceded just a solitary run in his first ten balls. Returning at the back end of the innings, Johnson bowled ten dot balls on the trot and picked up the wickets of Usama Mir, Tom Hartley, and Joshua Little. The 27-year-old finished with mind-boggling figures of 3/1 in 20 balls, and it included 19 dot balls. This turned out to be the most economical 20-ball outing in the competition, which is in its third season.

Oval Invincibles eventually won by a whopping 94 runs and are currently placed at the top of the table with five points from three games. Their next fixture is against Northern Superchargers on Friday, August 11.

Spencer Johnson receives maiden Australia call-up for South Africa T20Is

Johnson helped his Global T20 Canada team Surrey Jaguars reach the final of the 2023 edition of the tournament last week as he finished with seven wickets from six games at an economy rate of six. He was rewarded for his consistent performances in franchise cricket when he received a call-up to the Australia team for the three-match T20I series against South Africa.

The youngster will be in line for a debut in the series after his noteworthy performance in the Hundred. It also seems that Australia might have unearthed another gem of a bowler in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup in 2024.