Trent Rockets (TRT) host Birmingham Phoenix (BPH) in a battle of equals in match 27 of the Hundred. The Lewis Gregory-led franchise lost two of their last three fixtures in the tournament. Though, they have a 100% record at home. Second-placed Birmingham Phoenix is on a roll after registering three consecutive victories. But the franchise will have to do without captain Moeen Ali, who has received a call up to the England squad for the second Test match against India.
Team News
Marchant de Lange has returned to the Trent Rockets roster after Wahab Riaz, who picked a four-wicket haul on debut, is ruled out of the tournament with an injury. The South African quickie picked up eight wickets, including a five-wicket haul, from four games. De Lange is likely to replace Timm van der Gugten in the playing eleven.
D’Arcy Short will be keen to return to form after being dismissed for a duck in two of the last three matches. The Australian’s opening partner Alex Hales is Trent Rockets’ leading run-scorer, though the Englishman hasn’t been able to convert his starts into big scores. Dawid Malan, too, is yet to hit peak form.
All-rounder Samit Patel was impressive with the ball in the defeat against Oval Invincibles. He grabbed the key wickets of Colin Ingram and Sam Billings and scored a brisk 15. Sam Cook could retain his place in the starting eleven after making his Hundred debut at The Oval.
Birmingham Phoenix will face a difficult task in the absence of their influential skipper Moeen. He has scored 134 runs at a strike rate close to 190 in the franchise’s last three matches. With uncertainty regarding the fitness of Tom Abell, either Daniel Bell-Drummond or Chris Cooke will come in place of Moeen.
Imran Tahir’s return to form will be a big boost for the Birmingham Phoenix bowling unit. The 42-year-old grabbed a hat-trick and a five-wicket haul against Welsh Fire on Monday. The stand-in captain Liam Livingstone is likely to contribute with the ball too. He had picked up the wicket of Jos Buttler in their match against Manchester Originals.
Top Five Fantasy Points scorers (previous match)
TRT: S Patel (72 pts), R Khan (47 pts), L Gregory (46 pts), M Carter (44 pts), A Hales (34 pts)
BPH: I Tahir (153 pts), W Smeed (97 pts), B Howell (67 pts), A Milne (47 pts), L Livingstone (41 pts)
The Hundred Stats
Most Runs: TRT – A Hales (150 runs); BPH – L Livingstone (160 runs)
Most Wickets: TRT – R Khan (9 wickets); BPH – A Milne (8 wickets)
Most Sixes: TRT – S Patel (8 sixes); BPH – W Smeed, L Livingstone (10 sixes)
Most Fours: TRT – D Short (17 fours); BPH – F Allen (12 fours)
Most Catches: TRT – T Moores, M Carter, L Wood, L Gregory, A Hales, D Malan, R Khan (3 catches) ; BPH – W Smeed, I Tahir, A Milne (4 catches)
Squads
TRT (likely): D Short, A Hales, D Malan, T Moores, S Patel, S Mullaney, L Gregory, R Khan, M Carter, M Lange, S Cook
BPH (likely): F Allen, W Smeed, L Livingstone, C Benjamin, C Cooke/D Bell-Drummond, B Howell, M Hammond, A Milne, T Helm, P Brown, I Tahir
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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