Tim Seifert struck seven sixes in a 38-ball 72 to power Manchester Super Giants to their first Hundred title, chasing down 159 against Trent Rockets at Lord’s on August 16, 2026. Liam Dawson hit the winning six with two balls remaining to seal a five-wicket victory.
Manchester Super Giants won the Hundred at the third attempt after losing finals in 2022 and 2023. The title caps a run of five consecutive wins after the team sat sixth in the table two weeks ago.
“Excitement and euphoria, and a little bit of relief! A fantastic effort from everyone. I think Tim mentioned to win five games in a row to be in this position to lift the trophy. I think we deserve it.”
Jos Buttler, post-match presentation, August 16, 2026
Buttler credited the squad’s response since captain Aiden Markram flew home to South Africa for personal reasons on August 5. He singled out the coaching staff, calling them “very calm” and noting that Tom Moody in particular had “done this a few times.”
The turnaround began the moment Buttler took the captaincy. Manchester had won two of their first five matches under Markram and lost three straight. Under Buttler, they did not lose again.
Paul Walter’s inclusion at the top of the order was the decisive change. The Essex all-rounder was not in the starting XI for the first five matches. Once Markram left and Walter came in, he scored 247 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 179. His 22 off 14 in the final gave Manchester the start they needed, and his 80 off 46 in the Eliminator against Sunrisers Leeds two days earlier was the innings that got them to Lord’s.
Trent Rockets posted 158 for 8 after being inserted. Ben Duckett made 31 and Finn Allen 15 as the openers reached 48 without loss. Noor Ahmad then changed the match in the space of four deliveries, dismissing both openers to leave the Rockets 52 for 2.
Noor Ahmad took 3 for 33 in the final after managing just five wickets across the previous nine matches. Aneurin Donald counter-attacked with 38 off 19, but his departure triggered a collapse of five wickets for 47 runs in 32 balls. Sam Billings was run out by Buttler. Tim David edged a googly to the keeper. Mitchell Santner’s unbeaten 20 pushed the Rockets past 150, but 158 was not enough.
Walter and Seifert opened the chase with 66 off 31 balls. Seifert reached a 24-ball fifty, the fastest in a men’s Hundred final. He dominated both pace and spin before holing out for 72 off Calvin Harrison.
The Super Giants needed 23 off 22 when Seifert fell. They nearly collapsed. Heinrich Klaasen made 11 off 9 before Mohammad Amir dismissed him and Michael Bracewell in successive deliveries. The equation came down to three runs off Ben Sanderson’s final five balls. Two dots followed. Dawson then cleared deep midwicket to end it.
“I think from the get-go, we’re a well-balanced side, and I think a lot of people chipped in when they needed to as well. I think you look at Tall Paul not playing the start of the tournament and coming in doing what he did. It just shows the depth that we have in our squad.”
Tim Seifert, MVP ceremony, Lord’s, August 16, 2026
Seifert was named the tournament’s MVP. He scored four half-centuries in his last five innings and finished as the season’s second-highest run scorer. This was his first Hundred season.
Say it louder… 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐆𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔! 🏆🔥 pic.twitter.com/6IHTerGwVQ
— Manchester Super Giants (@ManchesterSG100) August 16, 2026
Insider Read
Walter is 6ft 7, left-handed, and hits the ball hard enough to clear any ground. When you put him at the top alongside a right-handed player like Seifert, you force the bowling side into constant adjustment. The bowler cannot settle on a line. The fielding captain cannot set the same field for two consecutive deliveries. Every time the strike rotates, the angles change completely. That is not a tactical tweak. It is a structural advantage that compounds across an innings.
The coaching staff, led by Moody and Langer, identified this mid-tournament under elimination pressure and committed fully. Walter had played for Welsh Fire in the 2025 Hundred and was already in the Manchester squad as a reserve. Promoting him to open was not a gamble. It was a recognition that his left-arm pace and left-handed batting created exactly the combination this squad was missing. Five wins in five matches after his introduction tells the story clearly enough.
What Comes Next
This was the first season of the Hundred under private ownership. RPSG Group, led by Sanjiv Goenka, bought a 70% stake in the Manchester franchise for a reported £107 million. The Super Giants brand now spans three leagues across three continents: Lucknow in the IPL, Durban in the SA20, and Manchester in the Hundred. None of the three had won a title before Sunday night.
Josh Tongue, who took 4 for 26 in the Eliminator and bowled effectively throughout the tournament, now faces an immediate turnaround. England’s first Test against Pakistan begins at Headingley on Wednesday, just three days after the Lord’s final.
Buttler, who has been in outstanding T20 form across formats this year, lifted the trophy at the ground where he has played some of his most significant innings. The franchise lost two finals as the Manchester Originals. Under a new name, new ownership, and an emergency captain, the third attempt was the one that counted.
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