The Southern Brave beat the Birmingham Phoenix in the men’s Hundred final on Saturday night to become the new tournament’s first champions. The Brave put on an excellent 168-5 off their 100 deliveries, a total put into an even more impressive context by the usual caginess of cricketing finals, and defended it comfortably in the end. The Phoenix came up 32 runs short, with Moeen Ali and particularly Liam Livingstone threatening to run them close, hitting 36 off 30 and 46 off 19 respectively. Despite Livingstone’s incredible hitting, there were just too many runs on the board, and the early wickets of Bedingham and Smeed were always going to make it an uphill struggle.
🗣️ CHAMPIONS!#TheHundred pic.twitter.com/4SScO9CHYI
— The Hundred (@thehundred) August 21, 2021
