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Tim Seifert’s blistering 67 off 45 balls set up Manchester Super Giants Men for a tense seven-run victory over London Spirit at Lord’s in The Hundred Men’s Competition 2026, as Gus Atkinson and Sonny Baker held nerve in a breathless finish to trump Liam Livingstone’s stunning all-round show — completing a historic double for Super Giants on the same evening their women’s side beat Spirit by seven wickets.
Lord’s had already seen one demolition job on Thursday evening. The second match of the night was a different animal altogether — 23,847 people on the edge of their seats, a Super Giants innings built on Tim Seifert’s brilliance, a Spirit reply anchored by Liam Livingstone’s career-best 69, and a finale so tight that eight runs were still needed from the final ball. Manchester Super Giants won by seven runs. London Spirit, and Livingstone in particular, were left to wonder what might have been.
London: An inspired bowling performance from Gus Atkinson and Sonny Baker propelled Manchester Super Giants to a stirring victory against London Spirit as a Lord’s crowd of 23,847 witnessed the first classic of The Hundred 2026 men’s competition. It completed a historic double for the newly renamed franchise — men and women both beating their Spirit counterparts on the same evening at the same ground, a feat that will take some time to fully sink in at the Super Giants camp.
Seifert Takes Centre Stage
Super Giants were watchful early against the new ball before Tim Seifert began to cut loose. The New Zealand wicketkeeper-batter made his intentions clear from the outset — reaching 50 from 39 balls before being dismissed by James Coles for 67 off 45 balls, including six fours and three sixes.
Aiden Markram was trapped lbw cheaply for just one off 10 balls, leaving Seifert and Jos Buttler to repair early damage. Buttler’s 16 off 11 came with the authority expected of a World Cup-winner, including a six off Adam Zampa that drew the biggest roar of the first innings. Heinrich Klaasen then provided late pyrotechnics with 17 off 11 before falling to a David Willey delivery caught by Liam Livingstone.
The middle order collapse was real — Tom Moores run out for a golden duck, Liam Dawson bowled by Livingstone for nine, Gus Atkinson caught at the boundary off Livingstone for six — and at the halfway stage, 138 for 9 felt like it might be 10 or 15 runs short of what Spirit’s batting line-up would need to be worried. Adam Zampa finished as Spirit’s most economical bowler with 2 for 27, while Livingstone’s 2 for 14 from 3.2 overs had kept the innings from fully accelerating.
Livingstone: One Man Against an Attack
With 56 wanted from 30 balls, the game was in the balance. Livingstone and the classy South African Dewald Brevis had been cautiously rebuilding after three wickets had fallen inside the first 46 balls. Spirit’s top order had struggled — wickets falling in a cluster that left the chase dependent on their captain to deliver something extraordinary.
He delivered. Livingstone got to work, taking 12 off Noor Ahmad’s final five deliveries, including a signature leg-side sweep — his third six of the innings. Another trademark slog sweep brought up his fifty off 32 balls, and a slapped four through extra cover appeared to swing the game in the Spirit’s favour.
The Super Giants’ response was measured and clinical. The England pace pair of Atkinson and Baker shared two wickets apiece, taking control of the final 10 deliveries to defy Livingstone and get their team over the line. Atkinson, who had contributed a modest six with the bat, transformed himself into the match’s decisive figure with the ball — his rhythm and accuracy in the closing stages strangling the Spirit run-chase precisely when momentum had swung Livingstone’s way.
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The Final Ball That Said Everything
Eight runs were needed from the final ball when Sonny Baker steamed in to James Coles. Baker landed it just full of a good length, Coles flicked it away to deep backward square, and Tom Moores took a clean catch. The crowd exhaled. Super Giants had won by seven runs — their narrowest-ever T20 victory margin — in a match that could have gone either way for most of its 200 balls.
Livingstone’s 69 off 40 balls was the innings of the competition so far. It was also, ultimately, not enough — he was the ultimate nearly player on the night, his 2 for 14 with the ball having put Spirit ahead at the halfway stage, his bat having almost hauled them home from an impossibly difficult position. That he needed more support from the rest of the batting order is an understatement; that he didn’t get it is the story of Spirit’s evening.
Super Giants — The Team to Beat?
Two matches into The Hundred 2026, Manchester Super Giants sit at the top of both the men’s and women’s tables with maximum points. The women dismantled Spirit in 59 balls; the men survived a scare but ultimately held their nerve in front of the biggest crowd of the competition so far. Their next assignment comes on Sunday at Old Trafford against Birmingham Phoenix — a chance to go three from three and establish themselves as the early frontrunners.
For London Spirit, two losses from two in both competitions represents a damaging start. Livingstone has shown his class in both formats — his innings tonight will be spoken about for weeks — but a captain cannot win matches alone.
Result: Manchester Super Giants Men won by 7 runs
Player of the Match: Tim Seifert (MSG) — 67 (45)
Scorecard:
Manchester Super Giants Men 138/9 (20 overs) — Seifert 67 (45), Klaasen 17 (11), Buttler 16 (11); Livingstone 2/14, Zampa 2/27
London Spirit Men 131/6 (20 overs) — Livingstone 69 (40); Atkinson 2/15, Baker 2/29
