From: Ed Mace
Manchester, 11 August 2026:
Tim Seifert struck a brutal 80* off 40 as he powered the Manchester Super Giants to a win that virtually seals their place in the Eliminator.
MSG needed a win within 75 balls to leapfrog the Sunrisers on net run-rate if they were to not rely on any other results going their way while Sunrisers had the chance to go top if they could secure a victory.
The opening partnership of Mitch Marsh and Ryan Rickelton started in typical fashion reaching 42-0 after 21 balls. It required a great catch from Noor Ahmad off the bowling of Gus Atkinson to end Rickelton’s innings.
From then, it was all Super Giants as they began to routinely take wickets. Marsh fell for 32 after hitting his 28th six of the campaign, the most ever in one season.
Sonny Baker took the key wicket of Harry Brook and cleaned up Zak Crawley who faced 28 balls for his 31, never looking confident.
There was no one who could step up as the finisher for Sunrisers, as MSG took four wickets in the final 10 balls for just six runs. It meant the Sunrisers finished on 127, their lowest score in the tournament.
Brydon Carse bowled unchanged for the first ten deliveries which proved to be a costly error as Tim Seifert took 28 off 8 including three consecutive sixes. The last of those was a remarkable flat-batted shot from head height that flew over extra cover.
The wily Nathan Ellis held up the progress of Seifert and Paul Walter, but MSG needed 84 from 50 at the end of the powerplay if they were to overtake the Sunrisers.
Seifert continued to motor off the others, scoring 40 in the half-century partnership that came up in 28 balls.
Walter offered a half-chance to Matt Potts who could only parry the ball over the boundary. An even more glaring opportunity came moments later as the dangerous Seifert spooned the ball up but a chasing Crawley couldn’t hold on.
Walter responded to the drops with two huge sixes that meant that MSG needed just 27 off 20 to overtake Sunrisers. The century stand came up after 55 with both players motoring.
Carse’s night went from bad to worse as the winning runs were hit off his bowling as MSG sealed the ten-wicket win with 33 balls remaining.
The result means that Sunrisers need MI London win by less than 59 runs to qualify, despite being in the driving seat prior to the game. It also sent the Trent Rockets automatically through to Sunday’s final.
Scores in brief:
Manchester Super Giants Men beat Sunrisers Leeds Men by 10 wickets
Sunrisers Leeds 127 all out (Mitch Marsh 32, Zak Crawley 31; Gus Atkinson 3-30, Sonny Baker 2-22)
Manchester Super Giants 128-0 (Tim Seifert 80*, Paul Walter 44*; Nathan Ellis 0-18)
Player of the match: Tim Seifert
