Qais Ahmad inspired Welsh Fire (WEF) to a thrilling five-run win over Northern Superchargers (NOS) in match 4 of the Hundred. Yorkshire’s Jonny Bairstow and Harry Brook shone with the bat for their respective franchises, while Afghanistan spinner Qais claimed four crucial wickets to help WEF register two points.
Bairstow made Ben Stokes regret his decision to bowl first at Headingley Cricket Ground. The Englishman didn’t let NOS bowlers settle as he smashed David Willey, Brydon Carse, and Mujeeb Ur Rahman to all parts of the ground. Ben Duckett, too, piled misery on bowlers.
New Zealand all-rounder Jimmy Neesham and Glenn Phillips entertained the crowd with some fantastic batting at the death. WEF posted a mammoth 173, of which 50 came in the final 20 balls.
NOS, in reply, lost four wickets – Adam Lyth, Chris Lynn, Ben Stokes, and Willey – in the space of 18 balls after a brisk start from the openers. It looked like the hosts would slump to a heavy defeat. However, local boy Brook kept them alive in the match with a sensational half-century. He hit three sixes off Liam Plunkett and crushed Neesham with successive boundaries and a six.
Qais turned the tide in WEF’s favor after grabbing two wickets – John Simpson and Brook – in his final five balls. NOS bowlers Matty Potts and Carse struck few boundaries and took the match into wire. Bairstow threw the ball to Jake Ball, and he successfully defended 11 runs.
WEF 173/4 in 100 balls (J Bairstow 56, B Duckett 41; B Stokes 1/8)
NOS 168/7 in 100 balls (H Brook 62; Q Ahmad 4/13)
Player of the Match
With most of the bowlers had an outing to forget in Leeds on Saturday, Qais picked up four wickets and didn’t concede a four or a six in his 20 balls. He outplayed the more experienced Rashid and Mujeeb, who combined conceded 65 runs from 40 balls and managed to pick up only one wicket.
Lynn’s attempt to clear the boundary resulted in Qais’ first wicket. Ian Cockbain took a comfortable catch at deep backward square to dismiss the Aussie opener. The spinner grabbed his second after Willey’s powerful strike was gobbled up by Matt Critchley. He grabbed two more wickets as John Simpson holed out, and Brook got trapped in front of the wicket.
Fantasy XI
Q Ahmad (118 pts), H Brook (87 pts), J Bairstow (83 pts), M Potts (61 pts), B Duckett (51 pts), G Phillips (48 pts), A Lyth (43 pts), J Neesham (41 pts), B Stokes (38 pts), M J Critchley (37 pts), B Carse (36 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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