Lewis Gregory’s late sucker-punch saw his side over the line in a classic Lord’s final to hand Trent Rockets their first title in The Hundred.
Gregory, who arrived in the middle with the Rockets requiring 24 from 15 deliveries, found the boundary from the 96th and 97th balls of the chase to finally ease the tension on a nailbiting night in North London.
The skipper was on hand to hit the winning single from the next ball, securing a two-wicket win.
While it was the Somerset all-rounder who was front-and-centre at the winning moment, and while his audacious six over square leg to finally tilt the contest in his side’s favour was one of the moments of the competition, this was a victory built on solid seam and spin bowling foundations.
Sam Cook was named match hero after claiming figures of 4/18, while Samit Patel (3/23), Luke Wood (1/19) and Matthew Carter (0/19 from 20 balls on his recall to the side) provided a handy supporting cast.
The in-form Originals, who had won six consecutive matches to make the final, won the toss and elected to bat first, with a productive first nine deliveries providing a sense of instant vindication.
Cook, however, has progressed from 2021 Vitality Wildcard pick to 2022 Rockets mainstay, and he found the perfect line of attack to Laurie Evans off the tenth delivery – pads thudded, review wasted, the previous evening’s Match Hero dismissed.
Cook would rearrange Wayne Madsen’s stumps soon after – and with Daniel Sams seeing off England’s Phil Salt, and the Originals’ new pair of Tristan Stubbs and Ashton Turner surviving a brace of run-out appeals, the minds of the men from Manchester were muddled.
Soon after, that famed Lord’s hum became a Rockets roar as Patel’s enduring love affair with Lord’s finals continued.
To star turns for the Outlaws in the one-day showpieces of 2013 and 2017 could be added a decisive intervention in Rockets yellow.
First Stubbs departed, miscuing the spinner into the hands of a sprinting, full-stretch Tom Moores.
From the next ball, Patel saw off Paul Walter, the Originals’ lynchpin departing via a leading edge to Dawid Malan.
A febrile Home of Cricket may not have witnessed the hat-trick those in yellow so desperately craved, but it was only a matter of time before Patel was in the action once more, as Turner gave Cook catching practice in front of the Grandstand.
After a twenty-ball spell of trademark miserliness from Matthew Carter, Cook returned to comprehensively castle Tom Lammonby and knock back Richard Gleeson’s middle peg.
In between, Luke Wood received richly-deserved rewards of his own, Tom Hartley swiping aimlessly at the left-armer and finding the grateful clutches of Moores.
121 was the target, but Alex Hales could only make eight before skying Josh Little to cover, and a somewhat sedate start to the chase yielded 27 from the Powerplay.
Malan and Tom Kohler-Cadmore were finding the ropes often enough to soothe any nerves, but both would make the long walk back to the dug-out a little earlier than desired.
A Matt Parkinson slider, expertly reviewed, saw off Kohler-Cadmore, before a swallow-dive at cover from Walter removed Malan and reignited the Originals’ optimism.
A brace of blows from Colin Munro threatened to tilt the balance more decisively in the Rockets’ favour, but one lofted drive too many found the hands of Hartley.
This had become the very definition of a low-scoring thriller, with each boundary, each run, each dot ball seeming to shift the balance of power.
As Patel perished for nine from the 74th ball, the Originals scented blood – and Tom Moores had to use every inch of his frame to prevent a run-out three deliveries later.
The win predictor continued to sway to and fro as Moores holed out, Gregory scampered three and Sams clubbed six before being caught in a rollercoaster set from Hartley.
And as Carter came and went for a three-ball duck, more pressure was heaped on the shoulders of the Rockets captain.
The tension was suitably ratcheted up by a dot ball, single and two from Josh Little’s final three balls, before Gregory’s moment of magic.
A full, straight Gleeson delivery at nigh-on 90mph was timed to perfection by the right-hander, sent soaring into the stands to leave five required from four.
Two balls later, the celebrations could begin as the Rockets joined Oval Invincibles as winners on Finals Day.
The Invincibles were celebrating their second triumph in as many years. After a superlative campaign for Trent Rockets, maybe, just maybe, this is the start of a space age.