London Spirit’s men follow their women’s team into action at Lord’s, hosting Manchester Super Giants on Thursday, July 23, at 6:30 PM local (11:00 PM IST).
Manchester arrive under new captain Aiden Markram and a fresh RPSG-backed identity, still chasing a first men’s title after finishing runners-up in 2022 and 2023 as Manchester Originals.
London Spirit, whose men’s side is also still searching for its maiden title, will lean on a record-breaking auction addition in James Coles, signed for a competition-record £390,000.
LNS vs MO Match Details
| Details | Information |
|---|---|
| Match | London Spirit vs Manchester Super Giants, 3rd Match |
| Series | The Hundred Men’s Competition 2026. Season opener for both franchises, played after the women’s fixture at the same venue. |
| Date | Thursday, 23 July 2026 |
| Time | 6:30 PM BST local / 5:30 PM GMT / 11:00 PM IST |
| Venue | Lord’s Cricket Ground, London. London Spirit’s home ground. |
| Format | 100-ball innings per side, five sets of 20 balls, no bowler allowed more than two sets. |
| Captains | Liam Livingstone (London Spirit), Aiden Markram (Manchester Super Giants) |
| Form | LNS: Men’s side has never won the title, with a third-place finish in 2022 among their best campaigns. Big auction spend on James Coles (a record £390,000) headlines a squad still built around Liam Livingstone’s captaincy. MO: Runners-up in both 2022 and 2023 as Manchester Originals, but still without a men’s title after five seasons. New owners RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group have backed the rebrand with a retained core of Jos Buttler, Heinrich Klaasen and Noor Ahmad, plus a joint-record £200,000 auction spend on Aiden Markram and Josh Tongue. |
| H2H | Both squads have been substantially reshuffled through the auction, so recent head-to-head results between the old Manchester Originals and London Spirit sides carry limited weight heading into this fixture. |
Dream11 Team For LNS vs MO, 3rd Match
Top Picks for LNS vs MO, 3rd Match
| Player | Team | Role | Key Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heinrich Klaasen | MO | Captain / WK | Captain pick. Explosive middle-order finisher, part of Manchester’s strongest-ever keeper-batting duo. At 2x. |
| Jos Buttler | MO | VC / WK | Vice-Captain pick. Retained marquee name, elite strike rate at any position. At 1.5x. |
| Aiden Markram | MO | All-Rounder | New Manchester captain, joint-costliest auction signing at £200,000. |
| James Coles | LNS | All-Rounder | Competition-record £390,000 auction signing, a huge statement of intent from Spirit. |
| Liam Livingstone | LNS | Captain / AR | London Spirit’s captain, capable of turning a game with the bat or occasional spin. |
Pitch Report
| Details | Information |
|---|---|
| Venue | Lord’s Cricket Ground, London. |
| Pitch Type | A balanced surface that generally supports both bat and ball. Some early bounce and seam movement for pacers, with the pitch getting easier to bat on as the innings progresses. Spin does not tend to get much purchase here. |
| Scoring | The average first-innings score in Men’s Hundred matches at Lord’s has historically sat around 130, with sides batting first winning slightly more often than those chasing. This is worth cross-checking against ESPNcricinfo Statsguru before publishing, since the figure varies a little depending on the source and sample size used. |
| Pace vs Spin | Pace bowling tends to dominate at this ground, with David Willey and Jamie Overton for Spirit, and Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson for Manchester, all likely to find some assistance with the new ball. |
| Toss Factor | With batting-first sides holding a modest historical edge at this ground, expect the toss winner to lean toward setting a total rather than chasing. |
Weather Report
| Details | Information |
|---|---|
| Temperature | Around 27°C (81°F) during the day, cooling into a pleasant evening for the 6:30 PM start. |
| Sky | Some cloud cover through the afternoon, clearing into the evening session. |
| Rain Chance | Low, roughly 10 percent. A full, uninterrupted match looks likely. |
| Humidity | Moderate, with some chance of added movement for the seamers once the lights come on. |
| Overall | Good batting and bowling conditions for the opening night of both franchises’ 2026 campaigns. |
LNS vs MO Toss Prediction
Given the historical edge for sides batting first at this ground, expect the toss winner to look to set a total rather than chase, especially with the surface tending to get easier for batting as the innings wears on.
**If Liam Livingstone (London Spirit) wins, **expect him to bat first in front of a home crowd, trusting Zak Crawley and James Coles to lay the platform before Dewald Brevis and Jonny Bairstow accelerate, backed by David Willey and Adam Zampa to defend a total under lights.
**If Aiden Markram (Manchester Super Giants) wins, **in his first game as captain he is likely to bat first as well, using his own experience at the top alongside Jos Buttler before Heinrich Klaasen looks to finish the innings at pace, with Josh Tongue and Noor Ahmad trusted to defend it.
Injury and Team News
London Spirit:
London Spirit head into 2026 under the continuity of Liam Livingstone’s captaincy, backed by a headline-grabbing auction spend on James Coles, the most expensive player ever traded in Hundred history at £390,000.
The retained core of Jonny Bairstow, Dewald Brevis, Jamie Overton and David Willey gives Spirit a settled top order and strong seam-bowling depth. No injury concerns have been reported for the squad ahead of the opener.
Manchester Super Giants:
Manchester enter 2026 with the biggest identity overhaul in Hundred history, rebranded under RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group ownership and led by new captain Aiden Markram.
The retained trio of Jos Buttler, Heinrich Klaasen and Noor Ahmad gives the side a strong core, with Markram and Josh Tongue arriving as joint-record £200,000 auction signings. No injury concerns have been reported for the squad ahead of the opener.
