The Hundred: New era, familiar result for London Spirit as Liam Livingstone heroics fall short

TimesofIndia.com in London: New owners, new coaches, new players and a new captain. London Spirit arrived at Lord’s on Thursday promising a fresh start, but their opening day of The Hundred 2026 produced a painfully familiar result.

For the fifth time in six seasons, Spirit’s men began their campaign with defeat as Manchester Super Giants edged a thriller by seven runs in front of 23,847 spectators. Earlier, Spirit’s women had been comprehensively beaten by seven wickets, completing a double defeat for the hosts.

In between came a distinctly Hundred-style interlude, with rapper Tinie Tempah performing amid jets of fire and even venturing into the Lord’s crowd. But once attention returned to the cricket, it was Liam Livingstone who provided the evening’s real entertainment.

Spirit’s new captain almost single-handedly dragged his side towards victory with an extraordinary all-round performance.

Having put Manchester in, Spirit were initially made to toil by Tim Seifert, who marked his first Hundred appearance with 67 from 45 balls. The New Zealander added 49 with Jos Buttler (16) and 40 with Heinrich Klaasen (17) as the visitors reached 103 for two.

That was when Livingstone took matters into his own hands.

The captain bowled 20 of the final 25 deliveries, conceding only 14 runs and taking two wickets as Manchester spectacularly lost seven wickets for 35 runs. Six of those fell for just 22 runs in the final 26 balls, leaving the visitors on 138 for nine.

On a Lord’s surface where batters struggled for timing, only four days after England and India had combined for 747 runs in an ODI, Manchester’s total appeared around par.

Spirit’s chase quickly ran into trouble when James Rew departed for a two-ball duck. Livingstone rebuilt alongside Kiran Carlson (19) before adding 68 with Dewald Brevis, although the South African’s 22 came from 23 balls as the required rate climbed.

With 56 needed from 30 balls, Livingstone shifted gears.

He took 12 from Noor Ahmad’s final five deliveries and brought up his half-century from 32 balls with a trademark slog sweep. Manchester also gave him a helping hand, most notably when Seifert spilled a chance at deep midwicket and watched the ball bounce over the boundary for six.

Suddenly, Spirit were back in it.

They required 21 from the final 10 deliveries, but Manchester’s England pace duo held their nerve. Gus Atkinson removed Brevis with a caught-and-bowled dismissal and finished with figures of two for 15, leaving Sonny Baker to defend 12 from the final five balls.

Baker had conceded 25 runs from his first 15 deliveries, while Livingstone had already struck five sixes.

This time, however, the 23-year-old seamer won the battle. After conceding three runs from his first two deliveries, Baker went full and fast and crashed into Livingstone’s stumps. James Coles was caught off the final ball as Spirit finished on 131 for six.

Livingstone’s 69 from 40 balls, coupled with figures of two for 14, earned him the Match Hero award but not the result.

“We bowled some really good stuff through the middle, dragged it back towards the end, and we nearly chased it down,” Livingstone said. “We just got a bit too far behind the rate to catch up in the end.”

There was considerably less drama in the women’s game.

Grace Harris struck the opening delivery for four, but Spirit promptly collapsed to 23 for four in the powerplay and were eventually bowled out for 80 in 91 balls.

Manchester needed only 59 deliveries to complete a seven-wicket win, with Paige Scholfield finishing the chase with successive four and six.

For London Spirit, it was a sobering beginning to what was supposed to be a fresh chapter. Livingstone believes there is something to build on, and his own performance certainly provided encouragement.

But for all the changes around Lord’s, opening night brought the same old outcome: two games, two defeats.