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Lhuan-dre Pretorius smashed 64 off 28 balls — including a 106-metre six — after returning from an on-field collision to power London Spirit Men to a seven-wicket win over MI London at The Kia Oval in Match 12 of The Hundred Men’s 2026. Will Jacks’ 65 set a new competition scoring record in a losing cause.
Lhuan-dre Pretorius left the field after the 11th ball of MI London’s innings after a painful collision, padded up anyway, and hit 64 from 28 balls to give London Spirit their first win of The Hundred 2026. That it came against the league leaders at The Kia Oval, in a match Spirit needed desperately after losing their opening two games, made it rather more than just a result. It was a statement — and it was delivered by a 20-year-old with ice in his veins.
London, England: The script was written for Will Jacks. He had made 54 in the last match at this ground. He had just become, during the course of a 65-ball innings that was controlled and commanding in equal measure, the highest run-scorer in the history of The Hundred men’s competition. MI London, the table leaders, had made 164 for 5 at The Kia Oval — a total that, on the evidence of recent results, should have been enough.
Then Lhuan-dre Pretorius walked back out to open the chase. And everything changed.
Jacks Writes History, Rutherford Writes the Punchline
MI London won the toss and chose to bat in the day-night fixture at Kennington, and for the first quarter of their innings they looked like a side that knew exactly what it was doing. Will Jacks and James Vince opened with a partnership of 91 — calm, assured, draining the spirit out of Spirit’s bowlers ball by ball. Vince made 26 of those runs before falling to James Coles, but Jacks was unstoppable. His 65 from 44 balls was his best score of the tournament and, in passing the previous benchmark for runs in the competition’s history, confirmed what has been obvious to every cricket watcher this season: the Surrey all-rounder is The Hundred’s defining batter.
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Then Jacks, Vince — already gone — and Nicholas Pooran fell within eight balls. Jamie Overton, bowling with the kind of aggression that Spirit had been missing from their attack in their opening two defeats, dismissed Jacks and Pooran in successive deliveries to leave MI London wobbling at 100 for 3. The momentum that the opening stand had so painstakingly constructed had evaporated in the time it takes to bowl eight balls.
With Sam Curran absent — sitting out as a precaution with muscle tightness — MI London’s middle order looked thinner than usual. Jason Roy, recalled to the side in Curran’s absence, fell to Overton for 13, caught behind on review. Overton finished with 3 for 30, his best Hundred figures. It fell to Sherfane Rutherford to rescue the innings total. The West Indian did it in the way that only Rutherford can: 41 from 19 balls, four sixes, physics temporarily suspended. He was caught by the injured James Coles, diving at deep square, off Andrew Tye from the final ball of the innings. MI London finished at 164 for 5. The word around the ground was: chaseable.
The Collision, the Return, the 106-Metre Six
The moment that defined the evening arrived not with a bat or ball but with a fielding incident. Lhuan-dre Pretorius, diving in the deep during MI London’s innings, collided with a teammate and left the field for treatment. The stadium held its breath. Spirit’s top order was already asking questions without losing their most destructive option before he had faced a ball.
He came back. Of course he came back.
Padded up and sent out to open alongside Jonny Bairstow at the start of the chase, Pretorius faced Trent Boult’s first delivery and deposited it 106 metres over midwicket. Not over the rope. Into the seats. A towering, contemptuous blow from a batter who had been concussed in the field barely an hour earlier, and who clearly decided the appropriate response was to hit the first ball he faced as hard as he possibly could.
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He never stopped. The powerplay yielded 61 for no wicket — Pretorius 34, Bairstow 22 at the strategic timeout — and the chase, requiring 165 from 100 balls, already felt like a formality. Bairstow fell for 23, caught after sharing a 63-run stand, but Pretorius kept going. He finished with 64 from 28 balls — the kind of innings that makes bowling figures irrelevant — before eventually falling, his work done, his team on the brink.
Liam Livingstone added 16 alongside James Rew, who arrived with Spirit needing quick hands at the finish, and the target was surpassed with 11 balls to spare. London Spirit won by seven wickets. Pretorius collected the Meerkat Match Hero award as a matter of formality.
What It Means in the Table
The win gives London Spirit their first two points of the competition after two defeats, and lifts them above Southern Brave and Birmingham Phoenix in the standings. For MI London, it is a first defeat in three games — but the nature of it, 165 chased with 11 balls to spare, with a batter returning from a collision at the head of the innings, will sting. Curran’s absence loomed large both as captain and bowler; with him in the side, the bowling attack looks very different.
The Hundred derby season has truly begun. Spirit showed at The Kia Oval that when they fire, they have the firepower to beat anyone. The rest of the competition now knows to treat them accordingly.
Scores: MI London 164/5 (100 balls) — Will Jacks 65 (44), Sherfane Rutherford 41 (19), James Vince 26 (20); Jamie Overton 3-30
London Spirit 165/3 (89/100 balls) — Lhuan-dre Pretorius 64 (28), Jonny Bairstow 23 (12), Dewald Brevis 37 (18); Gleeson 1/31
Result: London Spirit Men won by 7 wickets (with 11 balls remaining)
Note: Will Jacks became the highest run-scorer in The Hundred men’s competition history during his innings of 65.
