149/5 (18.3)
CR : 8.05
146/8 (20.0)
CR : 7.30
Birmingham Phoenix won by 5 wickets 🏆
Player of the Match
Sean Anthony Abbott
4/16
ALL OVER! Howell finishes off with a boundary.
BP won by 5 wickets
1:21 AM IST, 8:51 PM Local Time: A tense victory for the Birmingham Phoenix against hosts Welsh Fire, the visitors winning by 5 wickets and 7 balls to spare to move to number 3 in the points table.
Welsh Fire won the toss and elected to bat first putting 146/8 on the board. Tom Kohler-Cadmore top scoring with 54 in 32 balls and Sean Abbott picking up 4/16 in his 20.
The chase started off really well with skipper Moeen Ali (60 off 46) and Ben Duckett adding 114 for the first wicket in 73 balls. That's when Moeen holed out against Matt Henry after hitting 8 fours and a six in his knock.
Haris Rauf bowling his final set removed Jamie Smith, saw Liam Livingstone run out with David Willey's athleticism and trapped Dan Mousley on the very first ball to push the chasing side under pressure.
Duckett saw the score slip down from 133/1 to 138/5 with Willey removing Jacob Bethell on the 87th ball with 9 runs to win. The left arm seamer was tasked to bowl 10 on the go, tried his best but it was Duckett (54* off 31, 6 fours 1 six) and Benny Howell (6* off 4) to finish the job for the Phoenix.
Rauf (2/24) was the pick of the bowlers with Willey (1/27) and Henry (1/37) in the wickets as well. Luke Wells tried to keep things tight with a 20-ball spell of 0/23.
With their 4th loss in 7 matches, the Welsh Fire have been eliminated of the competition.
Welsh Fire won the toss and elected to bat first putting 146/8 on the board. Tom Kohler-Cadmore top scoring with 54 in 32 balls and Sean Abbott picking up 4/16 in his 20.
The chase started off really well with skipper Moeen Ali (60 off 46) and Ben Duckett adding 114 for the first wicket in 73 balls. That's when Moeen holed out against Matt Henry after hitting 8 fours and a six in his knock.
Haris Rauf bowling his final set removed Jamie Smith, saw Liam Livingstone run out with David Willey's athleticism and trapped Dan Mousley on the very first ball to push the chasing side under pressure.
Duckett saw the score slip down from 133/1 to 138/5 with Willey removing Jacob Bethell on the 87th ball with 9 runs to win. The left arm seamer was tasked to bowl 10 on the go, tried his best but it was Duckett (54* off 31, 6 fours 1 six) and Benny Howell (6* off 4) to finish the job for the Phoenix.
Rauf (2/24) was the pick of the bowlers with Willey (1/27) and Henry (1/37) in the wickets as well. Luke Wells tried to keep things tight with a 20-ball spell of 0/23.
With their 4th loss in 7 matches, the Welsh Fire have been eliminated of the competition.
Welsh Fire is now eliminated from the tournament with this defeat.
MATCH HERO: Sean Abbott
Sean Abbott (Hero of the match): "It was tricky to sum up the conditions at the first. Fortunate, to land a few balls on the right area. All the batters did well. The communication was good among the bowlers.
It is a very relaxed vibe among the group. It is always about putting pressure on the opponents. There is clarity of role for all the players. All the games are important for us."
It is a very relaxed vibe among the group. It is always about putting pressure on the opponents. There is clarity of role for all the players. All the games are important for us."
Moeen Ali (Birmingham Phoenix Captain): 'We had quality players in the end (If he was nervous). I used to open when I first started playing. Now, with Jamie back and also Duckett, allows me to open. Duckett is a class player and it is difficult to bowl him.
We got the players who could chase that down and we did it in the end. Not really, it was about to get the job done not really thinking about the NRR but it does matter. We have a lot of options with the ball. The seamers have been brilliant for us. Bringing Wood has been outstanding for us.
Adam Milne has been brilliant for us. It is very difficult to face him. Sean Abbott stepped up today and we needed that from him. He is smart with the ball. He hit the good areas and that is his weapon. We got a really good combination this time. The coaching staff is also the same."
We got the players who could chase that down and we did it in the end. Not really, it was about to get the job done not really thinking about the NRR but it does matter. We have a lot of options with the ball. The seamers have been brilliant for us. Bringing Wood has been outstanding for us.
Adam Milne has been brilliant for us. It is very difficult to face him. Sean Abbott stepped up today and we needed that from him. He is smart with the ball. He hit the good areas and that is his weapon. We got a really good combination this time. The coaching staff is also the same."
That's it from our coverage of the 25th game of the Men's Hundred competition between Welsh Fire and Birmingham Phoenix. Ninaad Dixit here signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Hiren Kumar and scorer/analyst Paras Yadav. Stay tuned for more cricketing action from around the world.