Monday presented a relatively lopsided day of cricket at The Hundred as Birmingham Phoenix steamrolled the Trent Rockets in both the men’s and women’s Hundred tournaments.
Moeen Ali and Amy Jones were the standout performers on the day as Birmingham walked home with the entirety of the spoils. Benny Howell also delivered a top-notch effort with the ball, picking up three wickets to set up a rather easy chase for the Phoenix.
In the women’s competition, the Phoenix won the toss and decided to take the field. Asked to bat, the Trent Rockets started off losing a wicket early, with Bryony Smith walking off for a tame score of five. Elyse Villani and skipper Nat Sciver rebuilt the innings with purpose, as the duo added 52 runs for the second wicket.
However, it was as if Sciver and Villani’s hard work was for nought, as the moment the partnership was broken, the Trent innings collapsed like a pack of cards, eventually finishing at a disappointing 116/9. In response, Birmingham faced no problem at all, as Jones and Ellyse Perry led the Phoenix to an emphatic eight-wicket victory.
Meanwhile, in the men’s tournament, it was a repeat of the women’s fixture, as Trent Rockets were put into bat by Birmingham skipper Ali. He led from the front as he and the vastly experienced veteran Imran Tahir got rid of the dangerous opening duo of Alex Hales and Dawid Malan.
Most of the other Trent batsmen suffered similar fates to the Birmingham bowlers, before Daniel Sams and Lewis Gregory’s excellent cameos gave the Trent Rockets even an outside chance of victory, taking them to a total of 145/6.
However, Sams’ quickfire 55* was not enough to save the Rockets as England duo Ali and the explosive Liam Livingstone both scored vital half-centuries to take their side home comfortably by seven wickets.
Ali was awarded the man of the match for his match-winning all-round performance, as the southpaw picked up the crucial wicket of Hales before returning to score a fine half-century to ensure victory for his side.
