LS vs ML Prediction & Preview, Match 23, The Hundred Mens

160/5 100 balls ov

ML won by 4 wickets

164/6 94 balls ov

Who will win LS vs ML?

Cric First AI picks MI London · confidence 62/100

LS 40.8%ML 59.2%

Spinning surface at Lord's — slow ball, not the slope, decides this.
Will Jacks arrives on 62, 65, 54: relentless in the middle.
Pretorius' 64(28) shows Spirit's ceiling comes from top-order intent.
Mason Crane's 4-24 is Spirit's blueprint on a turning pitch.

Unconfirmed XIs and an undecided toss cap conviction on a spin-dependent surface.

Result: ML won by 4 wickets. Prediction missed.

Toss and conditions

Toss call pending; on a turning Lord's pitch the chase carries a real information edge.

Key factors

Grip over bounceVENUE

Lord's is turning; par here is modest, not a flat-track number.

Jacks in rhythmML

Three fifties running — he plays spin off the back foot with control.

Spin is the planLS

Crane's 4-24 spell shows what Spirit's slow bowlers can do here.

Pace-length balanceML

Morgan's 5-104 return hints at wickets, but also at costly overs.

Projected score and key matchup

First innings: 152 — Turn keeps this below a typical Lord's white-ball total.

Will Jacks v Mason Crane: Jacks scores at pace but Crane's best spells come early; ten balls decide who owns the powerplay.

Players to watch

London Spirit (Men)

Batting

Liam Livingstone · Avg 31.4 · SR 152.4 · last 3: 34(13) · 5(8) · 16(18)

Dewald Brevis · Avg 27.4 · SR 150.5 · last 3: 38(21) · 1(5) · 37*(18)

Lhuan dre Pretorius · Avg 23.2 · SR 175.8 · last 3: 5(3) · 11(8) · 64(28)

Bowling

Matthew Fisher · 2.4 wkts/inns (last 5) · last 3: 2-62 · 3-58 · 3-86

Mason Crane · 1.6 wkts/inns (last 5) · last 3: 4-24 · 2-9 · 1-92

MI London (Men)

Batting

Will Jacks · Avg 39.0 · SR 154.8 · last 3: 62(31) · 65(44) · 54(41)

Nicholas Pooran · Avg 26.4 · SR 197.0 · last 3: 54(28) · 3(4) · 0(1)

Sherfane Rutherford · Avg 29.6 · SR 133.3 · last 3: 1(4) · 41(19) · 21(12)

Bowling

Sebastian Morgan · 2.2 wkts/inns (last 5) · last 3: 0-21 · 5-104 · 2-52

Callum Parkinson · 1.6 wkts/inns (last 5) · last 3: 1-77 · 2-63 · 1-18

Head-to-head and form

Recent London derby went Spirit's way on the back of a young opener's counterattack.

London Spirit (Men): Spirit lean on Livingstone's SR 152.4 and Pretorius' intent up top.

MI London (Men): MI London's batting depth runs through Jacks, Pooran and Rutherford.

The story so far

Lord's has been offering grip rather than pace, which makes the spin units the axis of this innings and the middle 40 balls the real contest. MI London hold the deeper batting card, but Spirit's wrist and finger spin can strangle a chase before it starts.

The chase: ML need 161

MI London, narrowly. Jacks's form and Pooran's gears outweigh 160 on a used Lord's surface — provided they survive the Crane spell.

160/5 is a fraction above par on a Lord's surface already gripping, so MI London can chase in control if Will Jacks bats deep. Lose two inside the first 25 balls, though, and Mason Crane turns a routine chase into a squeeze.

Conditions: 21.5C, scattered cloud, humidity only 38% — dew a non-factor, so the pitch grips late rather than skids.

161 needed off 100 balls — 8.05 per 20 required.
Jacks arrives on 62, 65, 54 — three straight fifties.
Crane's leg-spin, not the new ball, decides this chase.

Spin holds the key

Crane bowls the pressure balls; his 4-24 shows how quickly he flips games.

No dew relief

38% humidity means no wet ball — the surface only gets slower.

Jacks is the innings

Three straight fifties; if he bats 60 balls, MI London win comfortably.

Nicholas Pooran v Mason Crane: Pooran's 197 strike rate against Crane's leg-spin on a gripping Lord's pitch — one set of five swings the middle phase.

Pressure points

First 25 balls: Fisher swinging at Jacks with fielders up.
Balls 40-70: Crane's spell against Pooran and Rutherford.
Last 20 balls if 40-plus still needed on turn.

Batting to watch