Adam Zampa among four Australians to win The Hundred in England after late dash to UK
Adam Zampa's 20-hour dash from South Africa to England has paid off spectacularly as both he and Nicola Carey claimed unexpected glory in The Hundred finals.
Australian spin star Adam Zampa’s mad dash to England for one match proved worthwhile, bowling his 20 balls to help the Oval Invincibles to a third straight title in The Hundred at Lord’s.
The match was the only one of the tournament for Zampa, who flew to the UK last week after Australia’s one-day series against South Africa as an injury replacement for Rashid Khan.
Zampa didn’t arrive in England until Friday, had one training session with his team on Saturday, then played the final on Sunday.
The Invincibles’ Australian coach Tom Moody had targeted Zampa, who was a previous winner with the team, and captain Sam Billings paid tribute to the coach in the aftermath of the comfortable 26-run win.
“Very special, kept the core together, been the most pleasing year, we’ve dominated and kept the foot down,” he said.
“Over three years everyone has contributed and that’s what great teams do. It takes a whole squad, proud of everyone. I’ve learned a huge amount off Tom (Moody) … we learn every day off a guy like that. Only a few coaches can hold a room like him.”
Zampa finished with 1-21 from his 20 balls, having Trent Rockets captain David Willey stumped.
In the women’s match, Nicola Carey was crowned player of the match as the veteran Australian all-rounder and a trio of her national teammates lifted the winner’s trophy for the Northern Superchargers
Fellow Aussie Annabel Sutherland hit a six to secure the win for the team alongside Phoebe Litchfield
Carey said she hadn’t been in the best shape when she got the call to join the team after an injury to Aussie spinner Georgia Wareham and was lapping up her whirlwind couple of weeks.
“A couple of weeks ago, I was back home in Tasmania, doing a cold pre-season,” Carey, 31, said.
“So to get the call-up first of all was pretty surprising and to finish the couple of weeks with a win, it couldn’t have gone better.
“It’s honestly been a whirlwind. I haven’t had something like that where you get a message one night, the next day-and-a-half later you’re on a plane, then a day-and-a-half later you’re on the field. It was pretty crazy.”
Carey made a match high 35 runs off 28 balls in her team’s run chase.
As the Superchargers collected the trophy, they brought a life-size cardboard cut-out of Wareham onto to the ground to share the celebrations.
Originally published as Adam Zampa among four Australians to win The Hundred in England after late dash to UK
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