The Oval Invincibles became historic three-time winners of The Hundred © Getty The Hundred Men’s 2025 competition ended last night with the Oval Invincibles winning their third straight title at Lord’s, with a dominant win over the Trent Rockets. The 2025 edition saw England regulars, including Joe Root, Jos Buttler, Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, and Jofra Archer, joined by experienced internationals such as David Warner, Kane Williamson, Rashid Khan and Steven Smith to add to the star value. Each side boasted world-class talent with the bat and ball. The ball change impact The Kookaburra balls used in 2024 were controversial, with players criticising their inconsistent behaviour and the resultant low-scoring games during the previous season, and as a result, they were replaced with standard T20 Blast balls. The Hundred’s scoring rates were lower compared to other T20 leagues across the globe in 2024, by 1.37 runs per ball. Players said that the 2024 balls felt ‘plasticky’ and that it hindered strokeplay, significantly affecting scoring rates. After receiving negative feedback and concerns about the behaviour of the balls, the ECB changed the type of balls used. The ball-switch was expected to aid high scoring, which could be seen in this season’s numbers. Batting stats across seasons in The Hundred Season Mats Runs/Wkt Run rate Bnd% 180+ totals Successful run-chases 2025 34 23.58 8.97 18.89 7 21 2024 34 20.1 8.23 16.38 2 17 2023 33 22.64 9.1 18.35 12 9 2022 34 23.85 8.99 17.41 6 18 2021 32 23.46 8.83 17.74 2 19 After the ball change in this season, it offered 1.1 times more average swing in the first five overs for seamers than it did in the previous season, and the ball had less seam movement in the PowerPlay as compared to last season in this period. As a result, the pacers’ PowerPlay bowling average increased to 28.33 compared to the previous four editions, which were between 23-25. Because of a drop in the ball seam movement in this year’s competition, the average PowerPlay score (first 25 balls) increased by five runs to 31 from 26 in the last season. Seven 180-plus scores were registered in 2025, compared to just two last year. The average score for the first innings this season was 145 – 17 runs more than it was in the 2024 edition. Due to a ball change in this year’s competition, the average swing for pacers in the PowerPlay in the first innings was slightly more compared to the second innings. Compared to the 2024 season, the average swing for seamers in the first 30 balls in the second innings was 1.2 times as compared to the previous season. Seam bowling stats in the first 25 balls across seasons in the Hundred Season Matches Wkts Avg SR ER 2021 32 64 23.48 17 8.25 2022 34 73 24.98 18.9 7.91 2023 33 82 23.69 17.3 8.2 2024 34 76 23.69 19.1 7.42 2025 34 74 28.33 21.1 8.03 Among all the Hundred venues this season, Edgbaston saw the maximum swing on average in the first five overs: (1.27) times that of the overall season average, and almost twice (1.78 times) than at Old Trafford, which had the least. The batter’s tournament As mentioned earlier, the season was on the higher side in terms of runs scored, averaging 23.58 per wicket, only marginally behind the 2022 season’s number (23.85). The run-rate was second-best (8.99) after the 2023 season (9.10). Seven 180-plus scores were registered in 2025, compared to only two in the previous season; only the 2023 tournament had more (12). The boundary percentage of 18.89% too, was the highest among the five editions. 830 fours and 371 sixes also made for the highest boundary count in a season; only 2022 had more sixes hit (403). Teams also had more success while chasing in this year’s tournament. The chasing team successfully chased down targets on 21 occasions, whereas the side batting first won just 12 times. The previous best was the inaugural season with 19 successful chases. This season, the Birmingham Phoenix chased a target of 181 runs against Oval Invincibles at their home ground and it was the third-highest successful chase in the history of The Hundred. In this year’s competition, 160-plus run targets were set 12 times but were chased down only twice. On the other hand, when the target set was under 160 (21 instances), the team chasing won 19 times, and there were only two instances of such targets being defended. Individual struggles As compared to last year, some overseas bowlers had their share of struggles to find form. For instance, Tim Southee, playing for the Birmingham Phoenix, was the fifth-highest wicket-taker last year with 14 wickets at an average of 13.8 (ER: 6.81), and this season he took just 3 wickets in six games at 55.0 and conceded runs at an economy of 11.64, before being dropped mid-season. Adam Milne, also representing the Phoenix, managed just three wickets in eight games at an average of 53.3 as compared to the previous year, where he took 12 wickets at an average of 17.4 and an economy of 7.6. Amongst the batters, James Vince, captain of the Southern Brave’s, was the leading run-getter last season with 424 runs at an average of 53.0 and a strike-rate of 142.8. This season, he just managed 103 runs in 8 games at an average of 12.9 and a strike-rate of 110. Ben Duckett, playing for the Birmingham Phoenix, was the second-highest run-scorer in the 2024 edition with 269 runs in seven games at an impressive average of 67.25 and had the best batting strike rate (171.3). This year, he totalled 123 runs in eight matches at an average of 17.6 and struck at 115 without a single fifty-plus score. How the spinners fared The spin-bowling numbers had a significant dip in 2025 compared to 2024, and overall, spinners had their worst of the five seasons in terms of all parameters. The Oval Invincibles’ spinners took 23 wickets – the highest by a team this season. Rashid Khan took 12 out of 23 spinners’ wickets. Player of the final, Nathan Sowter, who took a match-winning 3-fer in the final, took 9 wickets this season. The worst spin-bowling team were the Manchester Originals; they took just 8 wickets at an average of 35.25, and had a boundary percentage of 19.32% – the worst by a team this season. Spin bowling stats across seasons in the Hundred Season Mat Wkts Ave SR Econ Dot% Bnd% 2021 33 154 23.67 17.4 8.15 33.5 15.73 2022 34 133 23.86 17.3 8.27 31.3 14.81 2023 33 121 22.82 16.1 8.48 30.3 15.16 2024 34 126 22.07 16.7 7.89 34.2 14.48 2025 34 120 24.93 17.7 8.42 32.3 16.52 The Invincibles’ domination Oval Invincibles completed a historic feat, securing a hat-trick of titles after wins in 2023 and 2024. During their campaign, they set a new record for the highest total in tournament’s history (226/4) against the Welsh Fire, featuring Jordan Cox’s lightning fast 86 off 29 at a staggering strike rate of 296.5, including 10 sixes. His strike rate of 296.55 was the highest ever in a men’s Hundred innings exceeding 50 runs. Cox made a strong impact from the start, with his PowerPlay strike rate of 192 being the highest of the season. His strike-rate of 174 in the competition was well above the overall season strike-rate of 140.65. The Invincibles’ batters and bowlers dominated the respective charts in this year’s tournament. Cox led the run-scoring, with 367 runs at an average of 61.16, including three fifties in nine games. Rashid Khan, Tom Curran and Sam Curran finished as the joint-second-highest wicket-takers with 12 wickets at an average of 13.7, 22.2 and 19.3, respectively. Sam Curran also made a significant contribution with the bat, featuring consecutive fifties. Three of the top six highest-wicket takers were from the Invincibles squad.
