Dawid Malan hammered an unbeaten 98 as Trent Rockets defeated Manchester Originals by eight wickets, while Birmingham Phoenix escaped with a 4-run win against Welsh Fire on August 13.
The Saturday double header in the men’s Hundred was a case of two extremes as Manchester provided a high-scoring contest and Cardiff saw a low-scoring thriller. Trent Rockets and Birmingham Phoenix came out victorious against the respective home teams.
The first match of the day had Jos Buttler’s Manchester Originals searching for their first victory of the season. They even started well with the captain blasting 41 off 25 at the top and his partner Phil Salt carrying his bat with an unbeaten 70 off 46. With some fast cameos from Tristan Stubbs (27 off 10) and Laurie Evans (26 off 11), Originals posted 189/3 on the board.
What would be the highest chase in the tournament, Trent Rockets opening duo of Malan and Alex Hales came out all guns blazing. They dispatched the bowlers all over the park, adding 85 runs in just 38 balls. Hales was dismissed for a 20-ball 38, but Tom Kohler-Cadmore carried the baton and blasted 30 off 17. Malan played a magnificent knock of 98* off 44, including nine maximums, as they crossed the finishing line with six balls to spare.
The second match at Cardiff witnessed Birmingham Phoenix defeat Welsh Fire by just 4 runs. Batting first, Phoenix found themselves in a precarious situation with 4 down for 35 in 33 balls as their gung-ho approach did not work. Matthew Wade’s 38 off 30 and Benny Howell’s 21 off 11 helped them get to a somehow respectable total of 130/7.
Welsh Fire could not quite get off the blocks quickly, with some tight bowling from Phoenix. They lost a couple of wickets in the powerplay before Tom Banton threatened to take the game away with his 44 off 32. David Miller (35* off 30) then kept the team ahead of the game until the penultimate set, where Richardson conceded just two runs, bringing down the equation from 13 off 10 to 11 off 5.
Tom Helm held his nerves in the last set to bring home the victory. Richardson claimed 2 for 15 in his quota of 20 balls while Howell snared 1 for 12 in his 20.
Trent Rockets occupy the second place with 6 points while Birmingham Phoenix are third with 4 points. Manchester Originals and Welsh Fire are yet to open their account and are set to face each other next.
