Joe McConnell
Birmingham Phoenix returned to the top three of The Hundred with a major win at Edgbaston, eliminating Trent Rockets from this year’s competition.
Tim Southee took a five-wicket haul to reduce the Rockets to 118, before Liam Livingstone and Jacob Bethell helped push Phoenix into the play-off positions with a measured chase.
Birmingham Phoenix won the toss and chose to bowl, in what proved to be a fine decision by Moeen Ali, whose fast attack showed great bowling prowess early in the first innings.
The dangerous foursome of Tom Banton, Alex Hales, Joe Root and Rovman Powell were picked off in their first 30 passes, giving the Rockets a 22-4 lead.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Birmingham Phoenix take back-to-back big wickets of Alex Hales and Joe Root
Tom Alsop, making his debut in The Hundred, and Pakistan international Imad Wasim built a 50-over partnership for the visitors, before Wasim was retired on a run-a-ball 29, to be replaced by Chris Green.
The Australian all-rounder returned for the Rockets, replacing the injured Rashid Khan, but lasted just five balls before being replaced by Adam Milne, who took a deserved wicket.
Alsop reached his half-century, and was then dropped by the excellent Southee, who finished with 5-12 and momentarily thought he had taken a hat-trick before being denied a decision overturned by LBW.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Watch Tom Alsop Score Half-Century in His Trent Rockets Debut
The Trent Rockets held Phoenix to 119 to win and Ben Duckett got the chase off to a blistering start with 30 of 16 before the Rockets fired back. Luke Wood picked off Duckett and Jamie Smith on consecutive balls to end Birmingham’s fast start.
Moeen Ali and Livingstone held the ship steady for a while before the speedy John Turner (2-17) replaced captain Moeen and Dan Mousley.
The visiting team sensed it was time to increase the pressure with the ball in pursuit and began to limit the Phoenix’s scoring opportunities, before Luke Wood eased the pressure with an off-ball free throw that Bethell placed into the stands to give the home team some breathing space.
Bethell (38 off 29) and Livingstone (30 off 32) then took Phoenix home with a half-century partnership, chasing it down with seven balls to spare.
With one game left each, the result leaves three teams with a chance of joining Oval Invincibles in the knockout rounds: Phoenix, Southern Brave and Northern Superchargers. Trent Rockets’ defeat means that, like London Spirit, Manchester Originals and Welsh Fire, their tournament is over.
Player of the match: Tim Southee
“It was a pretty good performance. I think the players judged the conditions well and then the way the batsmen handled themselves towards the end, Bethell and Livingstone hitting the mark and taking really good options. So, I think it was a pretty good performance all round.
“I think we’ve had great consistency over the last few games and we’ve gotten to know each other a bit better. Obviously, Adam Milne and I have played a lot of cricket together, but for everyone else it’s great to have the experience of playing a few games together.
“We adapted to the conditions as quickly as possible, which helped us, and the surface gave us a little bit of what we were trying to get as much as possible.”
What will happen now?
The Hundred continues on Tuesday 13th August with another double header between Supercharger of the North AND Spirit of London.
The women’s match will be available to watch on Vscek Main Event and Vscek Cricket from 2.30pm, the first match at 3pm and the men’s match on Vscek Cricket from 6pm.
Vscek+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, the NOW streaming service and the Vscek app, giving Vscek customers access to over 50 percent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.
