Match 12 of The Hundred Men's Competition 2026 sends Manchester Originals to the capital to face London Spirit at Kennington Oval. The fixture sits inside the second round of group-stage fixtures, with both sides coming off matches that exposed different parts of their XI. Manchester Originals will rely on Trent Boult's new-ball spell and Nicholas Pooran's death-overs hitting. London Spirit will lean on Adam Zampa's middle-overs control and Liam Livingstone's match-up against the off-side ring. The Indian broadcast is on Star Sports Networks with Jio Hotstar carrying the live stream on app and web.
Kennington Oval, the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club, is one of the most familiar surfaces on the English summer calendar. The Hundred's travel schedule has taken the Oval out of the southern-hemisphere rotation for the last two weeks, and the bounce and carry that built its reputation show up again in the on-site read for this fixture. First-innings par at the venue in 100-ball cricket has settled around 150-155, with a quiet preference for teams batting first. The square boundaries are generous — long-on and deep midwicket sit around 75 metres — and the straight boundaries are short enough that clean contact gets rewarded.
This preview draws from the playing XI listings carried by Cricketnmore's Match 12 article, the broadcast schedule for the tournament and the venue read for the Oval. The look at the two XIs below is based on the official predicted cards published in the build-up. Injury status of any individual player has not been independently confirmed and should be checked closer to the toss before any fantasy selection is locked.
How the two sides arrived at Match 12
Manchester Originals come into the fixture in a position that says more about the schedule than the form. The squad has played two completed fixtures in the second round of competition and won one of them. The win, against Trent Rockets at Old Trafford, was built on a Trent Boult spell that removed the top order inside the powerplay and a Sam Curran finish that closed out a tight chase. The loss, against Oval Invincibles, was a flat-batting-collapse that the Spirit side will remember when they pick their bowling match-ups.
London Spirit's fortnight is more straightforward. The side has won two of its last three completed fixtures, with the highlight being a successful chase at Lord's that was steered by Jonny Bairstow in the powerplay and finished off by Adam Milne at the death. The loss, to Birmingham Phoenix, was a middle-overs collapse that put the spotlight on the spin twin of Zampa and Liam Dawson. Zampa has come back from that loss with two controlled four-over returns in the next two matches, and that spell has rebooted his fantasy ceiling for the rest of the group stage.
The teams split the head-to-head last season. Manchester Originals won the mid-table reverse fixture at Old Trafford by six wickets, and London Spirit won the late-season return at Lord's by 19 runs. There is no recent pattern that points either way on form alone, which makes the venue read and the toss decision the differentiating factors.
Kennington Oval pitch and the captain's toss call
Kennington Oval has been a good-batting wicket through the early rounds of the 2026 competition. The on-site read is that the surface offers genuine bounce and carry to the fast bowlers in the first half of the innings, with the ball coming onto the bat cleanly through the back half of the 100 balls. The square boundaries sit alongside the shortest in the country, and the straight boundaries slightly shorter than that. The net result is a venue where the first-innings total is usually set by how the powerplay is bowled, not by how the death overs are managed.
First-innings par at the Oval in The Hundred sits around 150-155. The historical edge for teams batting first is modest but real — slightly under 55% of completed fixtures at the venue have been won by the side batting first, and that gap has been consistent across the last three editions. The driving factor is the pitch holding its bounce through the second innings rather than flattening out, which means the chasing side has to take calculated risks against spin to keep the rate above eight-and-a-half.
Squad selection therefore leans toward batters who can use the pace on the up and bowlers who can hit the top of off-stump with the new ball. The two predicted XIs below reflect that structure.
Powerplay batting edge at the Oval
Square boundaries pull the field and stretch the ring — the side that gets the powerplay from the right end usually wins the match.
Predicted Manchester Originals XI
The Manchester Originals' likely starting XI keeps the top-order trio together, anchors the middle order around Sam Curran's captaincy, and uses Rashid Khan as the wrist-spin match-up against the Spirit's right-hand-heavy middle six. Trent Boult and Richard Gleeson share the new ball, with Nathan Sowter as the third-seam option through the middle phase.
- Nicholas Pooran (wk)
- Will Jacks
- James Vince
- Sam Curran (c)
- Sherfane Rutherford
- Ollie Pope
- Rashid Khan
- Tom Curran
- Trent Boult
- Richard Gleeson
- Nathan Sowter
The selection logic is built around Will Jacks and James Vince at the top. Jacks has started the season with a half-century against Trent Rockets and a controlled 38 against Oval Invincibles, and his square-of-the-wicket game is well matched to the Oval's short boundaries. Vince is the anchor, expected to play the first 30 balls without taking on the ring. Pooran at three is the death-overs swing — Miami-style finish that turns a 130 into a 160 if the last 15 balls go his way.
The bowling combination is built on three phases. Boult and Gleeson take the new ball and target the top of off-stump. Rashid Khan enters at the end of the powerplay or the first over of the middle phase, and operates against the right-hand-heavy Spirit middle order. Tom Curran and Sam Curran share the death — Tom with the slower-ball variations, Sam with the hard length and yorker length. The structure is dense enough that the Originals can leave Sowter out of any single phase.
Predicted London Spirit XI
London Spirit's predicted XI is built around two anchor roles — Jonny Bairstow at the top and Liam Livingstone in the middle — and three bowling phases that share the ball across pace, seam and spin. Adam Zampa as the wrist-spin match-up against the Originals' left-handers is the selection that the published predicted card has carried.
- Jonny Bairstow (wk)
- Lhuan-dre Pretorius
- Liam Livingstone (c)
- Dewald Brevis
- James Coles
- Jamie Overton
- James Rew
- David Willey
- Andrew Tye
- Adam Milne
- Adam Zampa
Bairstow at the top is the only structural choice that the Spirit would not change. His record at the Oval — 184 runs in four completed Hundred innings at the venue, with one fifty and a strike rate above 150 — is the kind of profile that opens the batting card. Lhuan-dre Pretorius, the young South African, is the second opener and is listed in the predicted XI for his leg-side power against the short square boundaries.
The middle order is where the match-up arithmetic lives. Livingstone at three is the captain's role and the spin-bowling cushion against the Rashid Khan phase. Dewald Brevis at four is the X-factor slot — the kind of batter who can hit a flat 30-ball 80 or get out for a single-digit score on a quiet pitch. The lower order of Overton, Rew, Willey, Tye, Milne and Zampa gives the side six bowling options, which is the kind of depth that lets Livingstone use the pitch map rather than the bowling card to construct his spells.
Phase-by-phase bowling at the Oval
Three phases, three plans: new-ball length, middle-overs spin, death-overs slower-ball. The side that executes all three usually wins.
Players to watch — batters
Will Jacks (Manchester Originals) has been the most consistent top-order batter in the competition's early rounds. He started the season with a half-century against Trent Rockets and is averaging above 40 across the completed fixtures. The Oval's square boundaries suit his leg-side power, and the predicted XI gives him the licence to bat the full 50 balls.
Liam Livingstone (London Spirit) has already struck a half-century this season and is the structural link between London Spirit's top order and the spin phase. His switch-hit and reverse-sweep options against Rashid Khan are the match-up that the Manchester Originals will think about most in the team meeting. He bats at three and bowls off-spin, which is the kind of two-way profile that earns captaincy in this format.
Jonny Bairstow (London Spirit) is the form keeper-batter in the Spirit XI. His powerplay strike rate at the Oval is the highest of any player on either card, and the predicted XI has him opening alongside Pretorius. He is the most likely top-order scorer for the Spirit and the most likely candidate for the man-of-the-match ticket if the chase comes off.
Players to watch — bowlers
Trent Boult (Manchester Originals) is the bowler the Spirit's team meeting will start with. He took a game-changing spell in the previous fixture against Trent Rockets, removing the top order inside the powerplay and finishing with the new-ball figures that built the Originals' win. If Boult dismisses one of Bairstow or Pretorius in the first set of five balls, the chase math changes quickly.
Adam Zampa (London Spirit) is the wicket-taking control bowler in the Spirit XI. His middle-overs role against the Originals' left-handers — Pooran, Rutherford, Tom Curran — is the match-up that Livingstone will protect. Zampa took 2/18 in the win against Birmingham Phoenix and 2/22 in the win against Southern Brave, which is the kind of form that puts him on every fantasy shortlist for the fixture.
Head-to-head and recent form
The two sides have played seven completed matches against each other in The Hundred's history. Manchester Originals lead the series 4-3, with no matches washed out. Last season they split the two fixtures — Originals won six wickets at Old Trafford, Spirit won by 19 runs at Lord's. The head-to-head record is tight enough that form and venue should both be weighted equally in any prediction.
Manchester Originals' recent form: WLWW in the last four completed fixtures. The Trent Rockets win was built on the new ball, the Oval Invincibles loss was a flat-batting collapse in the middle phase. London Spirit's recent form: WWLW in the last four completed fixtures. The two wins were both chases led by Bairstow, the loss was the Birmingham Phoenix spin collapse.
Our prediction
The case for Manchester Originals rests on Trent Boult's new ball and Nicholas Pooran's death-overs finish. The Originals win the first 25 balls if Boult hits the top of off-stump the way he did against Trent Rockets, and the last 15 balls if Pooran gets his eye in. The middle 60 balls are the harder phase to call — Rashid Khan against the right-hand-heavy Spirit middle order is the match-up that the Originals will want to control. If Rashid gets a wicket in his first over, the chase math moves in the Originals' favour.
The case for London Spirit rests on Bairstow's powerplay and Zampa's middle overs. The Spirit win the fixture if they get to 60-70 without losing more than one wicket in the first 25 balls, and if Zampa's four-over return keeps the Originals' middle order to a run-a-ball. The Spirit's depth — six bowling options across pace, seam and spin — is the structural answer to the Originals' middle-order depth.
On the balance of the venue read, the toss decision and the form of the two XIs, we read this as a tight Manchester Originals slight-edge match-up. The Originals' path back to a winning score runs through Boult's first two overs and Pooran's last two overs. The Spirit's path runs through Bairstow's first 25 balls and Zampa's middle four. Both outcomes sit within plausible range — but if Boult opens with a wicket in the first set of five, the chase flips quickly.
How to watch and what's next
The live broadcast is on Star Sports Networks in India, with streaming on the Jio Hotstar app and website. First ball is at the scheduled Hundred slot — 7:30 PM IST on the day of the fixture. The Hundred's standard 100-ball format applies: 20 five-ball sets, with a 25-ball powerplay split across the two innings.
The next thing to watch before any fantasy pick is locked is the toss. On an Oval pitch that offers bounce and carry to the seamers, the captain who bowls first takes the new-ball movement out of the chasing side's powerplay scoring rate. Whatever the call is, the two predicted XIs above should hold up unless last-minute injury news drops before the toss. For the rolling team news, venue reads and captain pick refresh through the group stage, the daily archive at the fantasy cricket blog keeps the conversation moving across the tournament.