The Hundred is set to deliver an eye-watering windfall for English cricket that exceeds all projections after a Silicon Valley consortium featuring the chief executives of Microsoft and Google claimed a 49% share in London Spirit for £144m.

It was the first of two sales to take place on Friday afternoon, with a 49% stake in Cardiff-based Welsh Fire later sold for a reported £35m. The England and Wales Cricket Board has now raised around £279m after similar stakes in Oval Invincibles (£60m) and Birmingham Phoenix (£40m) were claimed 24 hours earlier.

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