Oval Invincibles have contacted Adam Zampa yet again, who missed this year’s tournament due to Australia’s white-ball series against South Africa. Rashid Khan, who picked 12 wickets in six matches for the Invincibles, left the tournament for international duty ahead of the tri-series and Asia Cup.
The two-time defending champions Oval Invincibles, running for a third one in a row, are keen to get back the Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa in the Hundred, even if it’s just for one game. The Invincibles, with a convincing win over the London Spirit on Monday, August 25, all but sealed their spot in the final, unless a major NRR-toppling result comes in favour of the Trent Rockets or the Northern Superchargers. Hence, the Invincibles have just one game left, but they will be without their lead spinner, Rashid Khan, for the summit clash.
With Rashid leaving for international duty ahead of the UAE tri-series and the Asia Cup, the Invincibles are left searching for a replacement and the head coach, Tom Moody, confirmed on Monday that they are in contact with Zampa, who played a massive role in the franchise’s back-to-back title wins in 2023 and 2024.ย
“Ideally, we want Zamps,” Moody told Sky Sports.ย “We just are working through that. He is keen to come back.ย He is familiar with this group and Surrey as well, having played in the Blast,” Moody added. Zampa missed this year’s Hundred due to Australia’s white-ball series against South Africa. However, with the leg-spinner set to return for the Blast knockouts, an appearance in the Hundred final might be a good enough reason for Zampa to feature in this year’s Hundred.
Rashid played a key role in the Invincibles winning five out of their first six games, being the joint-highest wicket-taker in the season alongside teammate Sam Curran and Manchester Originals’ Josh Tongue (12).
The top three is already confirmed for the men’s Hundred but who goes directly to the final will be known after Tuesday and Wednesday’s encounters. The Superchargers have the least net run rate out of the three teams and hence, even if they beat the Originals on Tuesday, they might struggle to challenge the Invincibles for the top spot. The Rockets take on Birmingham Phoenix on Wednesday and will need to win by at least 80-plus runs to close the net run rate gap, which looks a bit daunting to start with.
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