The Hundred: Alex Davies, Colin de Grandhomme send Southern Brave through and knock out Oval Invincibles

Alex Davies and Colin de Grandhomme shared an unbroken stand of 67 to send Southern Brave into The Hundred knockout stages with a six-wicket win over Oval Invincibles, who are eliminated.

STORY OF THE MATCH

Will Jacks handed the Invincibles a blistering start in the powerplay, hammering 39 from just 13 balls before George Garton had him caught in the deep, attempting to clear the fence for a fourth time.

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That triggered a middle-order collapse, with left-arm spinner Jake Lintott picking up the wickets of Sam Billings and Laurie Evans to return his best Hundred figures of 3-14 as the visitors slid to 79-6.

However, Alex Blake has plenty of experience of rescuing apparently lost causes in limited-overs cricket and the left-hander smashed an unbeaten 44 from 22, finishing with a crisp cover boundary off Chris Jordan to give the Londoners hope with a total of 134-7.

Those hopes were strengthened when the Brave stumbled at the start of their reply, with Jason Roy pulling off a stunning gully catch to remove Quinton de Kock and then running out James Vince when Davies sent him back.

Garton was sent in to raise the tempo and obliged with 23 from 17 - but he was also sunk by an excellent throw, Evans losing his balance on the boundary but recovering to hurl the ball in and beat the batter's attempt at a third run.

Yet Davies (40no from 29) kept the scoreboard ticking over, finding a dependable ally in De Grandhomme (40no from 28) and the pair steered Brave to victory - and the top of the table - with an unbroken partnership of 67.

MASSIVE MOMENT

Brave had been making steady progress thanks to Davies and De Grandhomme, but they still needed 15 runs as Reece Topley began the penultimate set of five.

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De Grandhomme miscued his first delivery - a no-ball full toss - to backward square leg, where Tabraiz Shamsi's throw was poor and the Invincibles failed to back up, allowing the ball to go for four overthrows and tilt the contest heavily in Brave's favour.

An enormous six by De Grandhomme off Topley's final ball then secured at least an Eliminator place for Brave with five balls to spare.

HOT SHOT

Jacks' smooth pick-up as he smoked Tymal Mills for six over mid-wicket was sublime, while Blake unveiled a textbook straight drive to record a maximum off the same bowler later in the Invincibles' innings.

But for sheer nonchalance, neither of those could match De Kock's flick for four off Saqib Mahmood during his brief stay at the crease, moving casually outside leg stump and lifting the ball around the corner with the minimum of fuss.

HE'S OUT AND I'LL PROVE IT

Evans has been in sparkling form for the Invincibles of late, so the home camp must have been delighted to see Lintott lure him out of the crease and present De Kock with a stumping opportunity.

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The South African 'keeper surprisingly squandered the chance, but immediately appealed for the catch instead and sure enough, his instincts were spot on as Ultra Edge confirmed Evans had got a faint edge.

Some confusion followed as umpire Rob Bailey initially signalled not out for a second time, but a frown from De Kock soon put him right and the finger was raised to send Evans on his way.

WHAT THEY SAID

Southern Brave's Jake Lintott:

"It was a really good win, I thought we showed a lot of fight, Davo (Alex Davies) has done so well to get us over the line there and there have been some good contributions from Colin (de Grandhomme) and personally it was great to contribute to a win as well.

"I think after 15 balls they were on 40 so we were really under the pump there and it would have been easy for heads to drop.

"But it is another example of the character in the team and what a tight-knit group we are."

Oval Invincibles' Sam Billings:

"When you lose a few wickets, it's a case of getting a partnership together and we just didn't do that. That is incredibly disappointing because we did an excellent job to even have a sniff with the ball.

"It was a good pitch but we just batted poorly and it wasn't smart. All we needed was to take it deep and all of a sudden you are looking at 150 plus. We should have got that at a canter.

"I think when we did click in those small glimpses across the competition we showed what a brilliant side we could be. But it was probably a case of too many individual performances and not getting a team collective together."

WHAT'S NEXT?

It is the penultimate round of group matches in The Hundred - and, as you would expect, the stakes are high at Emerald Headingley!

Northern Superchargers will seal an Eliminator spot in the women's tournament if they beat Birmingham Phoenix, but an away win could yet send the Phoenix through at Superchargers' expense.

The Hundred Live

The Hundred Live

It is a 3pm start - and that is followed by the men's clash at 6.30pm, where Phoenix can clinch automatic qualification for the final if they overcome the Superchargers.

Both games are live on Sky Sports The Hundred, Main Event and Mix.

Watch The Hundred live on Sky Sports between now and August 21.