A disciplined performance from bowlers and crucial knocks from Moeen Ali and Chris Benjamin helped Birmingham Phoenix (BPH) register a three-wicket win over London Spirit (LNS) in match 2 of The Hundred. Zak Crawley was the only bright spark in the visitors’ batting unit, and the Englishman became the first player in the men’s competition to score a half-century in the tournament.
Put in to bat first by BPH, LNS lost in-form Josh Inglis and Dan Lawrence early. Crawley kept the scoreboard ticking, but the London-based franchise lost wickets at regular intervals. A 40-ball 64 from Crawley steered LNS to 144. Adam Milne, Tom Helm, and Benny Howell grabbed two wickets each.
Chris Wood and Mohammad Amir removed the BPH openers cheaply to give LNS the perfect start. The No. 3 Liam Livingstone, too, didn’t last long. But Moeen stood firm and stitched a 36-run stand with Daniel Bell-Drummond for the fourth wicket. Both players departed in the space of six balls, with BPH still needing 47 runs from 29 balls. However, Howell’s 9-ball 17 and an unbeaten 24 from Benjamin sealed the win with three balls to spare.
LNS 144/6 in 100 balls (Z Crawley 64; A Milne 2/18, b Howell 2/25, T Helm 2/37)
BPH 148/7 in 97 balls (M Ali 40, C Benjamin 24*; B Cullen 2/38; M Amir 2/34)
Player of the Match
Benny Howell had a memorable outing as he picked up two crucial wickets and struck a six off Chris Wood and Roelof van der Merwe during the run chase. He scored a valuable 17, which helped ease the pressure.
The all-rounder conceded ten runs in his first five balls as Crawley hit consecutive fours off the 32-year-old. But, a few balls later, Howell removed Eoin Morgan to break a 33-run stand which threatened to take the game away from BPH. He also sent Joe Denly, who hit a six and a four off Livingstone, back to pavilion.
Top Fantasy XI
Z Crawley (88 pts), B Howell (83 pts), A Milne (71 pts), M Ali (67), T Helm (52 pts), M Amir (52 pts), B Cullen (52 pts), R Bopara (47), C Benjamin (41 pts), C Wood (39 pts), M Nabi (38 pts)
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Parameswaran Sankaranarayanan
Parameswaran Sankaranarayan is a sports enthusiast who has worked in print, website, and other digital platforms. He was part of the editorial team of first-ever Indian football-based website - IndianFootball.com (now defunct) - and passionately follows the latest happenings in world football. During his time as a journalist, he had the opportunity to interact with some of the iconic personalities in Indian sports and witness some memorable moments in Indian football.
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