Bowlers steered Southern Brave (SOB) to the Hundred final after a seven-wicket victory over Trent Rockets (TRT) in the eliminator. George Garton and Tymal Mills picked up six wickets between them and bundled out Trent Rockets for 96. Southern Brave chased down the target with 32 balls remaining.
After choosing to bowl first, Southern Brave, who included Craig Overton and Tim David in their playing eleven, left the Nottingham-based team reeling at the end of the powerplay. Garton removed Dawid Malan and Alex Hales in his second set of five. Overton cleaned up Steven Mullaney to claim his first wicket in the tournament. Trent Rockets lost their fourth wicket when D’Arcy Short gave a simple catch to Mills at midwicket.
All-rounder Samit Patel and Lewis Gregory led the recovery effort. Jake Lintott conceded two fours and a six in his ten-ball spell. Trent Rockets moved to 57/4 at the halfway point of the innings. But Mills broke the 31-run stand after Gregory hammered a full toss into the hands of Paul Stirling. The new batsman Tom Moores hit back-to-back sixes.
The franchise’s hopes of a decent total ended after Lintott took a superb catch to send the dangerous Patel back to the pavilion. Moores was the next to perish as Overton grabbed a relay catch at long-on. Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan holed out to David, leaving them 88/8.
Two wickets in two balls finished off Trent Rockets’ innings. Matthew Carter and Marchant de Lange, who smacked Jordan for a six, edged the ball into Quinton de Kock’s hands.
Stirling made an excellent start to the run-chase. The Ireland batsman scored a boundary in the first ball and smashed a six in the last delivery of the opening set of five. De Kock, at the other end, greeted his fellow countryman De Lange with a four. However, in the very next ball, the 28-year-old skied the ball to Cook at deep fine leg.
The new man James Vince struck 14 runs in Rashid’s first set of five, while Stirling cleared the ropes to bring up 50 for Southern Brave at the end of the powerplay. With 28 needed off 61 balls, Carter grabbed the wicket of Stirling. But Vince continued his onslaught. He hit a six and a four in Rashid’s ten-ball spell.
Alex Davies departed for 3, but Vince scored two boundaries off Cook and confirmed Southern Brave’s place in the final. It was also their fifth straight win in the tournament.
TRT 96 all out in 91 balls (S Patel 20; T Mills 3/8, G Garton 3/18)
SOB 97/3 in 68 balls (J Vince 45*, P R Stirling 31; M Lange 2/16)
Player of the Match
Malan, Hales, and Short have combined scored more than 500 runs in Hundred. But Garton dismissed the Trent Rockets’ trio in the space of ten balls to put Southern Brave in a great position at the end of the powerplay. The Sussex seamer, who bagged his first third-wicket haul in the tournament, stepped up and made his opportunities count in the absence of Jofra Archer.
Top Fantasy XI
T Mills (93 pts), M Lange (83 pts), G Garton (83 pts), C Overton (62 pts), J Vince (59 pts), C Jordan (56 pts), P R Stirling (50 pts), Q de Kock (43 pts), T Moores (35 pts), M Carter (29 pts), S Patel (27 pts)
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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