Having ran England’s greatest ever batter, Joe Root, out, Phil Salt steered the Welsh Fire to a 6-wicket victory over last year’s finalists, Southern Brave.
The Welsh Fire and the Southern Brave – now under GMR Group’s ownership and sporting Delhi Capitals colours, with Fire backed by the Washington Freedom – both missed out on the playoffs last year. The Brave did so having won their first four games of the tournament, while the Welsh Fire could only muster two victories and have never reached the Hundred playoffs.
Phil Salt, the Fire captain, won the toss and decided to field; his side caught brilliantly, restricting the Southern Brave to 135-7. Marco Jansen, with figures of 2-17, was the pick of an attack that was, on the whole, very good.
The Brave Will Really Miss Vince
For the first time in the franchise’s history, the Southern Brave are without arguably their most important player. Hampshire stalwart James Vince has just led Hampshire to another T20 Blast final. However, he has swapped the south coast for south London, leaving the Brave without an established opener at the top of the order.
That issue was laid bare when Jamie Smith and Ben McKinney were out cheaply. However, Thomas Rew, who many believe is better than his older England-capped brother,, showed his credentials with a well-made 41, before skying a flick off his legs down Matthew Short’s throat at square leg.
With the Brave in trouble at 57-3, Tristen Stubbs joined David Miller at the crease; the two South Africans needed to produce a partnership if the Brave were to post a total approaching par. A special catch from Ben Kellaway on the cow corner boundary, running back taking it over his head and just inside the rope, put paid to that. Stubbs out for just four.
The Brave Struggle To Score
With the volume of cricket played and having been used earlier in the day, it is perhaps no surprise that the pitch was on the slow side; however, at 92-4 with 20 deliveries to go, the Brave needed a decent finish.
Nikhil Chaudhary and Miller looked as though they might drag the Brave to a par score when Joe Root took a superb catch driving to his right at short cover to give former England teammate Chris Woakes his first scalp of the tournament. A vital partnership of 40 off 22 balls was broken.
David Miller did his best to finish the innings strongly; the left-hander, still scoring runs for South Africa at the age of 37, top-scored with 43. The Brave ending their innings on a below par 135-7.
The run chase was where the Utilita Bowl crowd would see the strengths of both sides collide and the potential of a mouth-watering battle between Jofra Archer and Joe Root. Chasing 136, the Welsh Fire were surely favourites.
New captain Chris Jordan, who has played for the franchise from the start, opted against opening with Archer, the quick, maybe preferring to bowl from the hotel end.
Salt Runs Root Out
In any format, it is always a pleasure to watch Joe Root bat; while he’s rarely out of form, he comes into the Hundred in particularly good order. When Matthew Short was dismissed for 20, just before the end of the powerplay, number 66 walked out to the middle.
Uncharacteristically, the Yorkshireman got off the mark with an inside edge to the fine leg boundary. At 54-1, requiring 80 for victory from 60 balls, fellow Yorkshireman Adil Rashid came on to bowl.
England’s greatest ever spinner looked to be in decent rhythm. Blowing on his hands as the sun’s warmth faded, he nearly had Root caught behind with a regulation leg-spinner that turned sharply.
Phil Salt didn’t endear himself to the neutrals as he ran Root out, attempting a second run on a misfield…… a village error. The captain was then joined in the middle by the stylish New Zealand left-hander Rachin Ravindra. Salt reached a run-a-ball 23 without hitting a boundary as the par knocked found the gaps, opting to keep wickets in hand and explode at the back end.
Salt should really have been caught for 30, but Jofra Archer had, surely against instruction, had wandered in off the rope and the ball flew over his head for a once-bounce four. Requiring a run-a-ball 27 and hoping to avoid the collapse that had befallen the women’s side earlier in the day, Ravindra was caught at mid-wicket, top-edging a slog sweep. David Miller took a good catch, holding onto the ball as his knee bounced on the firm outfield.
Salt and the highly rated Asa Tribe got the Welsh Fire over the line with two balls to spare, the former winning it with a six over mid-wicket to finish with a match-winning knock of 47 not out. It’s a very good victory for a Welsh Fire side who have struggled throughout the competitions history.
The Brave will need to find a way to replace James Vince’s runs.
