Will Jacks Holds MI London Together as Southern Brave Lose Last-Ball Thriller

MI London needed two runs from the final ball, seven wickets had already fallen, and Southern Brave had somehow dragged a 130 chase into one final moment of nerve.

Ollie Pope found enough bat. That was enough.

Pope sliced Nikhil Chaudhary over the infield, cleared the desperate point fielder, and ran the two runs that sealed a three-wicket win for MI London in Match 9 of The Hundred 2026 at The Rose Bowl, Southampton. It was not elegant. It was not comfortable. It was exactly the kind of finish this young tournament format keeps producing.

TL;DR

• MI London beat Southern Brave by three wickets off the final ball at Southampton.
• Will Jacks won Player of the Match for his controlled 54 off 41 balls.
• Southern Brave made 129/9 after Jamie Smith’s 49 and Tristan Stubbs’ 38.
• Trent Boult, Sam Curran, Tom Curran and Richard Gleeson took two wickets each.
• Marcus Stoinis nearly dragged Brave back into the match with 3/17 from 20 balls.
• MI London collected four points and moved strongly into the early top-three race.
• Southern Brave remain winless and sit under pressure near the bottom of the table.

MI London reached 130/7 from exactly 100 balls after Southern Brave had posted 129/9. The result gave MI London their second win of the season and a strong response after their defeat to Welsh Fire. For Southern Brave, it was another painful night. They fought hard, bowled with discipline, and almost stole a match they had not really batted well enough to win.

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Match Summary

Match	Venue	Result	Player of the Match
Southern Brave vs MI London, Match 9	The Rose Bowl, Southampton	MI London won by 3 wickets	Will Jacks, 54 off 41 balls

Southern Brave Start Fast, Then Fade Badly

Southern Brave were sent in after MI London won the toss and chose to field. On a surface that never looked fluent for batting, Brave needed one of their top-order players to turn a start into a decisive score.

Jamie Smith almost did it.

Smith played the cleanest innings of Brave’s night, scoring 49 from 26 balls with six fours and two sixes. He gave the innings shape after Ben McKinney fell early for a duck and Marcus Stoinis struggled for timing before falling for 5. Smith’s strike rate of 188.46 stood out in a game where most batters were forced to scrap for rhythm.

Tristan Stubbs supported him with 38 from 31 balls, adding control through the middle. At 80/2 after 55 balls, with Smith on 48 and Stubbs on 26, Brave looked set for something closer to 145 or 150. On this pitch, that would have been a very different chase.

Then MI London tightened the game.

Richard Gleeson removed Smith at 82, and that dismissal changed the innings. Brave lost momentum, then wickets. David Miller made only 8 from 11. Stubbs fell at 104. Chaudhary’s 13 from nine balls added a short late push, but the lower order could not build a proper finish.

From 80/2, Brave stumbled to 129/9. That collapse became the real story of their defeat.

MI London’s Bowlers Read The Surface Better

MI London’s bowling effort was smart rather than spectacular. They understood the surface early, kept pace off when needed, and denied Brave a clean closing surge.

Bowler	Balls	Runs	Wickets	Runs Per Ball
Trent Boult	20	15	2	0.75
Sam Curran	20	22	2	1.10
Tom Curran	15	27	2	1.80
Richard Gleeson	15	29	2	1.93
Rashid Khan	20	23	0	1.15

Trent Boult’s 2/15 from 20 balls was the most economical spell of the innings. He bowled 13 dot balls and gave MI London control at both ends of the innings. Sam Curran also took 2/22, while Gleeson and Tom Curran finished with two wickets each.

Rashid Khan did not take a wicket, but his 20 balls for 23 runs mattered. In a low-scoring match, control is almost as valuable as breakthroughs.

That collective discipline gave MI London a target that looked manageable on paper. The chase proved anything but simple.

Jacks Survives The Pressure After Early Damage

MI London’s chase started badly.

James Vince fell for 0 from two balls. Nicholas Pooran followed immediately for a first-ball duck. Both wickets went to Marcus Stoinis, who suddenly turned Brave’s 129 into something worth defending.

At 17/2 after 18 balls, MI London needed calm. Will Jacks provided it.

Jacks made 54 from 41 balls, with three fours and two sixes. It was not one of those violent, headline-grabbing Hundred innings where a batter destroys the match in 20 balls. This was a mature chase on a tricky surface. He absorbed pressure, chose his moments, and kept MI London close enough to control the required rate.

Sam Curran played the ideal support role with 30 from 29 balls. Their third-wicket stand dragged MI London from trouble to 82/3 after 69 balls. By then, the chase had structure again.

Jacks later described the finish as “very tight” and said MI London knew they were still in the game while chasing 130. His most telling line came when he called it a potential “watershed moment,” the kind of close win that can push a group forward.

That is exactly why MI London will value this result. They did not cruise. They held nerve.

For wider cricket analysis, read our recent coverage of England’s greatest Test all-rounder debate and India’s all-rounder crisis and the IPL Impact Player rule.

Rutherford’s Cameo Changes The Chase

When Jacks fell at 93 from 79 balls, Brave had an opening. MI London still needed 37 from 21 balls, and the set batter was gone.

Sherfane Rutherford then shifted the game in 12 balls.

His 21 included two fours and two sixes, and it came at a strike rate of 175.00. In a chase where most batters found timing difficult, Rutherford’s short burst gave MI London the release they needed.

He was run out at 115 from 88 balls, which reopened the match. Tom Curran was bowled by Chaudhary for 7. Rashid Khan was run out for 4. Brave forced the chase to the final delivery.

Still, Rutherford’s cameo had already changed the required equation. Without it, MI London probably do not reach the last ball needing only two.

Stoinis And Chaudhary Nearly Pull Off The Steal

Southern Brave’s bowlers deserve credit for making 129 feel like a fighting total.

Stoinis was outstanding with 3/17 from 20 balls, including 10 dot balls. He removed Vince, Pooran and Jacks, which means he dismissed three of MI London’s most important batting threats. His spell gave Brave belief when the match could have disappeared early.

Jofra Archer also bowled well without reward, conceding only 20 from his 20 balls and producing nine dots. Adil Rashid gave Brave control through the middle with 1/26, including the wicket of Sam Curran.

Chaudhary’s 1/21 from 15 balls added late drama. He bowled Tom Curran and took the game to the final ball. On another night, that spell becomes the match-winning twist.

The problem for Brave was simple: their batting left them with almost no margin.

Key Turning Points

Moment	Why It Mattered
Smith falls for 49	Brave lost their most fluent batter one short of a half-century.
Brave go from 80/2 to 129/9	The innings lost its platform and left MI London a chaseable target.
Stoinis removes Vince and Pooran	Brave made 129 feel competitive by striking twice early.
Jacks and Sam Curran rebuild	The 50-run third-wicket stand gave MI London control.
Rutherford scores 21 off 12	His cameo lowered the pressure before the final-ball scramble.
Pope slices two off the final ball	MI London completed the chase with no balls remaining.

Points Table Impact

MI London collected four points and moved into the early top-three conversation. After responding to their Welsh Fire defeat with a tight win, they now head toward the season’s first London derby at The Oval with momentum and a useful reminder that they can win ugly.

Southern Brave remain in trouble. They are still winless, and this one will sting because their bowlers did enough to create a winning chance. Sitting near the bottom of the table at this stage does not end a Hundred campaign, but it does shrink the room for slow starts.

Team	Current Situation	What It Means
MI London	Second win of the season, four points from this match	Back into the top-three race before the London derby
Southern Brave	Still winless after Match 9	Need quick points to stay in knockout contention

The Hundred’s format rewards fast recovery. It also punishes repeated narrow defeats. Brave now need their batting to match the fight their bowlers showed in Southampton.

For more tournament coverage, follow our cricket news and analysis, including match reports such as Phil Salt leading Welsh Fire past Southern Brave.

Final Verdict: Jacks Gave MI London The Calm They Needed

This match belonged to Will Jacks because he understood what the chase required.

MI London did not need a reckless 25-ball assault. They needed someone to read the pitch, absorb the early damage, and make sure the chase stayed alive deep into the innings. Jacks did that with 54 from 41 balls, and his innings gave Rutherford, Pope and the lower order enough room to finish the job.

Southern Brave will look back at Smith’s dismissal, the middle-order slowdown, and the final 20 balls of their innings. They had 150 available if one of Smith or Stubbs had batted deeper. Instead, they were forced to defend 129, and even a brave bowling effort could not quite cover the shortage.

MI London leave Southampton relieved, strengthened, and better placed. Brave leave with another reminder that in The Hundred, one poor batting phase can ruin 100 balls of effort.

On Monday night, that gap was two runs.