Southern Brave (SOB) eased to an eight-wicket victory over Welsh Fire (WEF) and took a giant step towards sealing their place in the playoffs in the Hundred. Chasing 144, Quinton de Kock and James Vince struck half-centuries to wrap up the win with 13 balls to spare. Welsh Fire and London Spirit have crashed out from the tournament. Meanwhile, Southern Brave climbed to the top of the points table.
An unchanged home team won the toss and put Welsh Fire into bat first. The visitors made one change from the last game as David Lloyd replaced Matt Milnes. He opened the batting with Tom Banton. The 29-year-old hammered a six off George Garton in the first set of five. However, Danny Briggs dismissed Lloyd in the eighth ball of the match.
Banton smashed three sixes before the end of the powerplay. He cleared the ropes off Briggs and hit two consecutive sixes in Garton’s second set of five. Ian Cockbain, too, played his shots, scoring a four and six in Jake Lintott’s first set. The partnership reached 50 after Cockbain hit a boundary in the 37th ball.
With Welsh Fire scoring runs in a free-flowing manner, Lintott removed Banton and Cockbain in the space of four balls. The 22-year-old skied high, and Alex Davies took a comfortable catch, while Cockbain, too, dismissed trying to clear the ropes. Briggs grabbed another wicket before the spinner finished his quota. Welsh Fire stand-in captain Ben Duckett attempted a slog sweep, but the ball crashed into the stumps.
The new pair Leus du Plooy and Glenn Phillips took their time to up the tempo. The Kiwi batsman managed to score boundaries in Garton and Jordan’s set of fives. Du Plooy mustered two sixes in Lintott’s final five balls. Southern Brave pacers conceded 25 runs in the last 20 balls and ensured Welsh Fire didn’t reach 150. Phillips remained unbeaten on 30.
Southern Brave made a fine start to the run-chase with Paul Stirling hitting a hat-trick of boundaries. He hammered Luke Fletcher for a six in his second delivery. But he sent the very next ball into the safe hands of Phillips. Skipper Vince moved to 25 off just 15 balls courtesy of four boundaries and a six.
Phillips saw de Kock scoring back-to-back fours in his third set of five. The pair rotated the strike and punished the poor balls for a boundary. De Kock struck a six in James Neesham’s second set. Meanwhile, Vince made his second half-century in the tournament. He holed out to Cockbain at long-on a few balls later.
The South African batsman turned on the carnage mode, much to the excitement of home fans. Qais Ahmad conceded two fours and a six in his last set of five. Southern Brave was just 15 runs away from registering their fourth win. De Kock, who brought up his fifty in 29 balls, steered his team home in the 87th ball.
WEF 144/5 in 100 balls (T Banton 36; D Briggs 2/17, J Lintott 2/36)
SOB 147/2 in 87 balls (Q de Kock 57*; J Vince 53; L Fletcher 1/24)
Player of the Match
Vince’s knock of 53 was the perfect example of taking the game away from the opposition. Despite de Kock at the other end, the 30-year-old decided to take the lead role. He dominated the slow bowlers and played the seamers watchfully. Philips’ conceded 29 runs with the ball, and 19 of them came off Vince’s bat.
Top Fantasy XI
J Vince (89 pts), Q de Kock (78 pts), D Briggs (66 pts), J Lintott (52 pts), T Banton (47 pts), G Phillips (43 pts), I Cockbain (43 pts), L du Plooy (38 pts), A Davies (33 pts), C Jordan (29 pts), Q Ahmad (29 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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