Paul Stirling and Ross Whiteley played the stand-out knocks to push Southern Brave towards a comprehensive win over Birmingham Phoenix in the final of The Hundred at Lord’s this Saturday.
Stirling played a brilliant innings of 61 from 36 deliveries, while Whiteley smashed a blistering 44 not out off just 19 balls to propel their team to a total of 168/5 in their 100-ball quota.
Alex Davies also contributed a useful 20-ball 27 as Southern Brave ensured they maximised the first half after losing the toss and being asked to bat first.
New Zealand quick Adam Milne was the exceptional performer in the Phoenix bowling attack, with two wickets for just eight runs off his spell. Imran Tahir (1/33), Benny Howell (1/34) and Liam Livingstone (1/18) also picked up a wicket apiece, but they proved quite expensive on the night.
During the run-chase, the Phoenix lost their openers David Bedingham (0) and Will Smeed (2) very early in the piece, with George Garton (1/27) and Craig Overton (1/26) getting the better of them.
That early passage of sustained pressure was broken through by Moeen Ali (36 off 30) and Livingstone (46 off 19). The duo stitched a counterattacking stand of 56 runs from just 26 balls. Livingstone was especially severe on anything loose and looked like taking the game away from the opposition.
Just then, however, the promising English batter got run-out to kickstart a mini-collapse that saw Moeen and the next man in Miles Hammond (3) also dismissed in quick succession. From there onwards, the game just kept slipping away from the Phoenix, who had Chris Benjamin (23) and Howell (20) lacking the firepower against some tight bowling from the likes of Tymal Mills (1/13), Jake Lintott (1/30) and even Chris Jordan (0/38).
Fine batting effort and a disciplined bowling performance helped the Brave lift the first-ever 100-ball competition trophy.
Brief scores
Southern Brave 168/5 in 100 balls (Paul Stirling 61, Ross Whiteley 44*; Adam Milne 2/8, Liam Livingstone 1/18) beat Birmingham Phoenix 136/5 in 100 balls (Liam Livingstone 46, Moeen Ali 36; Tymal Mills 1/13, Craig Overton 1/26) by 32 runs
