Liam Livingstone Fights Hard, But Manchester Super Giants Beat London Spirit by 7 Runs

Liam Livingstone crossed 1,000 career runs in The Hundred, took two wickets and dragged London Spirit to the edge of a remarkable victory. Manchester Super Giants still found a way to leave Lord’s with the points.

Sonny Baker defended nine runs from the final two balls and dismissed James Coles from the last delivery as Manchester Super Giants defeated London Spirit by seven runs in Match 3 of The Hundred Men’s Competition 2026.

Super Giants posted 138 for nine after Tim Seifert struck 67 from 45 balls. Spirit appeared to be drifting out of the contest before Livingstone’s 69 from 40 deliveries brought the chase back to life in front of 23,847 spectators.

The London captain also delivered an outstanding 20-ball spell, taking two wickets for only 14 runs. He received the Meerkat Match Hero award despite finishing on the losing side.

His individual brilliance could not erase Spirit’s slow beginning. They reached only 51 for three after 46 balls and eventually finished on 131 for six from their full allocation.

For Manchester, the result carried immediate historic value. It was the men’s team’s first victory under the Manchester Super Giants identity after the former Manchester Originals franchise was renamed ahead of the 2026 season.

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London Spirit vs Manchester Super Giants Match Summary

Match detail	Information
Competition	The Hundred Men’s Competition 2026
Match	Match 3
Date	July 23, 2026
Venue	Lord’s, London
Toss	London Spirit elected to field
Manchester Super Giants	138/9 from 100 balls
London Spirit	131/6 from 100 balls
Result	Manchester Super Giants won by 7 runs
Match Hero	Liam Livingstone, 69 and 2/14
Top scorer for Manchester	Tim Seifert, 67 from 45 balls
Best Manchester bowling	Gus Atkinson 2/15, Sonny Baker 2/29
Attendance	23,847
Points	Manchester Super Giants 4, London Spirit 0

TL;DR

• Manchester Super Giants defeated London Spirit by seven runs at Lord’s.
• Tim Seifert anchored Manchester’s 138 for nine with 67 from 45 balls.
• Seifert was given a costly reprieve when he had scored 21.
• Liam Livingstone took two for 14 from 20 balls, including 10 dot balls.
• Livingstone then scored 69 from 40 deliveries, hitting four fours and five sixes.
• His fourth run took him past 1,000 career runs in The Hundred.
• Spirit were 51 for three after 46 balls and allowed the required rate to rise too sharply.
• Livingstone and Dewald Brevis added 68 for the fourth wicket.
• Gus Atkinson conceded only 15 runs from 20 balls and delivered 12 dot balls.
• Sonny Baker dismissed Livingstone on ball 98 and Coles on ball 100.
• Manchester completed a men’s and women’s double over London Spirit on the same day.
• The result gave the renamed Manchester franchise its first men’s victory as the Super Giants.

Tim Seifert Holds Manchester Together After Markram Struggles

Aiden Markram’s first innings as Manchester Super Giants captain began with an uncomfortable examination from London Spirit’s pace attack.

Adam Milne and David Willey used the movement available from a slightly uneven Lord’s surface. Markram struggled to release the pressure and made only one run from 10 balls.

Spirit challenged an early not-out decision through DRS, although the review was unsuccessful. Milne eventually completed the dismissal by trapping Markram lbw on the 18th delivery.

Manchester had reached 16 for one, but nearly half of those deliveries had already disappeared.

Seifert prevented the innings from becoming trapped in Markram’s struggle. He attacked whenever the bowlers missed their lengths and ensured Super Giants finished the 25-ball powerplay on 26 for one.

It was a modest score, although the surface had already shown that timing would not come easily.

Buttler Gives Seifert Brief Support

Jos Buttler brought immediate intent to the crease.

The England wicketkeeper struck one four and one six in his 16 from 11 balls, helping Seifert move Manchester towards a stronger scoring rate. Their partnership carried the total to 65 before Adam Zampa bowled Buttler on the 43rd delivery.

Seifert had taken control by then. His fifty arrived from only 29 balls and included four fours and three sixes.

The acceleration was particularly valuable because Manchester’s middle and lower order would later struggle to maintain his tempo.

Seifert’s Reprieve Changes the Match

Spirit had an opportunity to remove Seifert when he had scored 21, but the chance went down.

That error became more expensive with every boundary.

Seifert added another 46 runs after the reprieve. Manchester eventually won by seven, making the missed opportunity one of the clearest turning points in the contest.

Heinrich Klaasen briefly added further momentum with 17 from 11 balls. His innings contained a four and a six before Willey had him caught by Livingstone.

Manchester were 105 for three after 68 deliveries and appeared capable of moving beyond 150.

Spirit responded with their best passage of the night.

Livingstone’s Bowling Leads Manchester’s Late Collapse

Zampa removed Leus du Plooy for six, while Tom Moores was run out without scoring. Manchester slipped from 105 for three to 116 for five in nine balls.

Livingstone then took command of the middle and closing phases.

The Spirit captain varied his pace, attacked the stumps and refused to give Manchester’s lower order room to swing freely. Liam Dawson was bowled for nine, and Gus Atkinson was caught by Jamie Overton for six.

Livingstone completed his full 20-ball allocation with two wickets for 14 runs. Half of his deliveries were dots, and he conceded only 0.70 runs per ball.

Milne was similarly restrictive, returning one for 11 from 15 balls with nine dots. Those two spells gave away only 25 runs from 35 deliveries.

Seifert’s dismissal for 67 on ball 87 removed Manchester’s last established batter. The Super Giants lost six wickets for 33 runs after reaching 105 for three, eventually closing on 138 for nine.

Two run-outs in the closing phase underlined Spirit’s improved fielding. The chase looked achievable, but only if their top order managed the new ball better than Manchester had.

Gus Atkinson Leaves Spirit Chasing the Chase

Spirit’s pursuit began with the same discomfort Manchester had experienced.

Lhuan-dre Pretorius struck one four and one six but could not settle. Atkinson removed him for 12 from 13 balls, with Leus du Plooy taking the catch.

Josh Tongue then dismissed James Rew for a two-ball duck. Spirit were 14 for two after 16 deliveries and ended the 25-ball powerplay on 24 for two.

Atkinson’s early control became even more valuable as the match progressed. His 20 balls cost only 15 runs, and he delivered a remarkable 12 dot balls.

In a chase requiring 139, those dots effectively removed more than one-tenth of Spirit’s entire innings.

Kiran Carlson attempted to rebuild, but his 19 from 19 balls did little to reduce the growing pressure. Dawson bowled him on ball 46 with Spirit on 51 for three.

They needed another 88 runs from 54 deliveries.

The required rate had climbed from 1.39 runs per ball at the start to approximately 1.63. Spirit still had wickets available, but they had surrendered too much time.

Livingstone and Brevis Reopen a Match That Looked Lost

Livingstone refused to let the chase disappear quietly.

He began with controlled aggression, choosing his moments rather than immediately attempting to repair the required rate through desperate hitting. Dewald Brevis provided support, although his 22 from 23 balls was more functional than explosive.

At the strategic timeout, Spirit were 69 for three after 60 balls. Livingstone had 28, Brevis had eight, and another 70 runs were needed from 40 deliveries.

Manchester still held a commanding position.

The next phase changed the emotional direction of the match.

Livingstone attacked Noor Ahmad, whose 20 balls eventually cost 36 runs. The Spirit captain cleared the boundary five times and repeatedly found areas Manchester had struggled to protect.

Brevis played a quieter role, rotating the strike and allowing Livingstone to target the favorable matchups. Their fourth-wicket partnership produced 68 runs and revived a crowd that had started to accept defeat.

Spirit reached 100 from 81 balls. They now needed 39 from 19.

It was difficult, but Livingstone’s presence made it believable.

Livingstone Passes 1,000 Hundred Runs

Livingstone entered the match with 996 career runs in The Hundred. He needed only four to reach the 1,000-run landmark.

The captain finished the evening with 1,065 career runs in the competition after adding 69. Before the 2026 season, he stood sixth on the tournament’s all-time men’s run list and held the record for the most sixes with 71, according to Lord’s Cricket Ground’s announcement of his Spirit captaincy.

His five sixes against Manchester extended that record to 76.

Livingstone had spent the first five seasons of The Hundred with Birmingham Phoenix. His first innings for Spirit showed why the London franchise trusted him with its captaincy.

His fifty came from 32 balls, with three fours and four sixes. By the end of the innings, he had scored 69 of Spirit’s 131 runs, accounting for 52.7 percent of their total.

Atkinson Removes Brevis at the Critical Moment

Brevis fell on the 92nd ball with Spirit on 119.

The South African attempted to force Atkinson back down the ground but offered the bowler a return catch. Manchester had broken the partnership, yet the match remained alive.

Spirit required 20 from eight balls.

Livingstone continued attacking and reduced the equation to nine from the final two deliveries. It was a remarkable position considering Spirit had needed 70 from the last 40.

Baker now had to bowl to the most dangerous player on the field.

The young fast bowler found the delivery Manchester needed. He pitched the ball full enough to attack the stumps and bowled Livingstone for 69 on ball 98.

The captain’s dismissal drained the noise from Lord’s.

Jamie Overton collected a single, leaving James Coles to face the final delivery with eight required. Coles attempted to flick Baker towards the leg-side boundary, but Tom Moores completed the catch at deep backward square.

Baker finished with two for 29. Both wickets arrived inside the final three balls, and both were essential.

Where London Spirit Lost the Match

Livingstone’s dismissal attracted the drama, but Spirit’s defeat had developed much earlier.

Match phase	London Spirit position	Runs required	Balls remaining
Start of chase	0/0	139	100
End of powerplay	24/2	115	75
Carlson dismissed	51/3	88	54
Strategic timeout	69/3	70	40
100 reached	100/3	39	19
Brevis dismissed	119/4	20	8
Livingstone dismissed	130/5	9	2

Spirit used 46 percent of their innings to score only 51 runs. That left Livingstone and Brevis trying to recover at more than 1.6 runs per delivery on a pitch where both teams had struggled for fluency.

The decisive bowling numbers tell the same story.

Atkinson and Dawson combined for three wickets and conceded only 38 runs from 40 balls. They delivered 21 dots between them.

Tongue added another six dot balls, while Baker produced nine.

Manchester gave away 29 runs from Baker’s allocation and 36 from Noor’s, but Spirit could not compensate for the pressure created by the other three bowlers.

Livingstone acknowledged the problem afterward.

“We got ourselves too far behind the run rate.”

He also described the surface as slightly up-and-down and believed 138 and 131 were both close to par scores in the conditions.

Livingstone’s Rare Match Hero Award in Defeat

The decision to name Livingstone Match Hero despite Spirit’s loss reflected the scale of his performance.

His bowling figures of two for 14 were the most economical of the match among bowlers who delivered a full 20 balls. With the bat, he scored more than three times as many runs as Spirit’s next-highest contributor.

Livingstone also assisted in the final-ball run-out of Josh Tongue during Manchester’s innings.

Seifert’s 67 remained the performance that separated the teams. His innings gave Manchester enough runs to survive their late collapse, while his reprieve on 21 proved costly.

Livingstone was the best all-round player on the field. Seifert produced the innings that ultimately delivered victory.

Both statements can be true.

Manchester Super Giants Begin Their New Identity With a Win

The 2026 season represents a major reset for The Hundred.

Manchester Originals became Manchester Super Giants following the arrival of new investment and IPL-linked ownership. Justin Langer also moved from London Spirit to become Manchester’s head coach, adding another layer to the victory at Lord’s.

His first men’s match under the Super Giants identity came against the side he coached in 2025.

The result therefore carried more meaning than an ordinary opening win. Manchester showed that their redesigned squad could absorb a lower-order collapse, defend a competitive total and remain composed when one batter threatened to take the match away.

Spirit are also operating with a significantly rebuilt group under Andy Flower. Some rust was visible in their top-order timing, dropped chance and early chase management.

Readers can revisit the first two matches through our reports on Nicholas Pooran’s 22-ball assault for MI London and Phil Salt’s controlled chase for Welsh Fire.

Manchester Complete a Lord’s Double

Manchester’s women had already defeated London Spirit by seven wickets earlier in the day.

Ryana MacDonald-Gay took four wickets as Spirit were bowled out for 80. Super Giants reached 86 for three in only 59 balls, winning with 41 deliveries remaining.

The men’s seven-run victory completed a same-day sweep and earned the franchise eight combined points.

Under the official 2026 Hundred competition rules, every victory earns four points, while ties and abandoned matches produce two points for each team.

The women made their result emphatic. The men had to survive Livingstone.

Together, they gave Manchester Super Giants a near-perfect opening statement under their new name.

Early Men’s Hundred 2026 Points Picture

Team	Played	Won	Lost	Points	NRR
MI London	1	1	0	4	+1.421
Manchester Super Giants	1	1	0	4	+0.350
Welsh Fire	1	1	0	4	+0.291
Birmingham Phoenix	0	0	0	0	0.000
Trent Rockets	0	0	0	0	0.000
Southern Brave	1	0	1	0	-0.291
London Spirit	1	0	1	0	-0.350
SunRisers Leeds	1	0	1	0	-1.421

Manchester’s seven-run margin moved them above Welsh Fire on net run rate, although MI London retained the strongest early NRR after their rapid opening victory.

Final Verdict

Manchester Super Giants won because Seifert made Spirit pay for a missed chance, Atkinson denied the chase early momentum, and Baker held his nerve when the entire match came down to two deliveries.

Livingstone gave Lord’s its most memorable individual performance of The Hundred 2026 so far.

He crossed 1,000 tournament runs, extended his six-hitting record, delivered the best bowling spell of the match and scored 69 while everyone around him struggled. His innings transformed an increasingly hopeless chase into a contest decided on the final ball.

Spirit will take encouragement from their captain’s form and the control shown by Milne, Livingstone and Zampa. Their top-order tempo and fielding must improve quickly.

Manchester leave Lord’s with four points, their first men’s victory as the Super Giants and proof that they can defend under extreme pressure.

Livingstone owned the evening’s defining performance. Seifert and Baker ensured Manchester owned the result.

FAQs

Who won London Spirit vs Manchester Super Giants in The Hundred 2026?

Manchester Super Giants defeated London Spirit by seven runs. They scored 138 for nine before restricting Spirit to 131 for six.

Who was named Player of the Match?

Liam Livingstone received the Meerkat Match Hero award after scoring 69 from 40 balls and taking two wickets for 14 runs.

How many runs did Tim Seifert score?

Tim Seifert made 67 from 45 deliveries, hitting six fours and three sixes.

Did Liam Livingstone pass 1,000 runs in The Hundred?

Yes. Livingstone began the match with 996 career runs and crossed 1,000 during his innings of 69.

How many sixes did Livingstone hit?

He struck five sixes and four fours during his 40-ball innings.

What were Gus Atkinson’s bowling figures?

Atkinson took two wickets for 15 runs from 20 balls and delivered 12 dot balls.

How many points did Manchester Super Giants receive?

Manchester received four points for the victory. London Spirit received zero.