Birmingham Phoenix (BPH) cruised to a six-wicket win at Edgbaston cricket ground as they inflicted Trent Rockets (TRT) their first defeat in the Hundred. Chasing 144, Birmingham Phoenix openers Finn Allen and Will Smeed stitched together 60 runs in 22 balls. Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone, too, played their part in steering the hosts to a comfortable win. Adam Milne was impressive yet again as he finished with figures of 2/13.
Trent Rockets made an excellent start after Moeen decided to bowl first. Alex Hales scored 18 runs off Tom Helm’s first set of five. He hit three fours and a six. However, Milne drew the first blood as he sent D’Arcy Short to the pavilion for naught. Hales struck successive boundaries off Moeen, while Dawid Malan smashed Imran Tahir for a six.
Moeen broke the stand after removing Hales for 38. With runs starting to dry up, Samit Patel made 12 off Moeen’s last set of five. He also scored runs off debutant Pat Brown and Tahir. Howell dismissed the all-rounder for 31. Trent Rockets were three down for 106 in 76 balls. Despite losing a flurry of wickets at the death, Malan’s half-century and a 16-run final five balls helped them post 144.
Opening pair Allen and Smeed thrashed Trent Rockets bowlers to all parts of the ground. The duo added 59 runs, Smeed scoring 36 off 12 balls. He hit a six and four off Patel and scored 20 runs from Timm van der Gugten’s first set of five. Rashid Khan broke the opening partnership after Smeed holed out to Short. But Allen and Ali continued to find the gaps.
Birmingham Phoenix brought up the 100 in the 48th ball. Moeen, who struck consecutive sixes in Patel’s third set of five, was dismissed for 26. Rashid grabbed the wickets of Allen and Miles Hammond, but Livingstone and Chris Benjamin saw the franchise home with 26 balls to spare.
TRT 144/6 in 100 balls (D Malan 51, A Hales 38; A Milne 2/13)
BPH 145/4 in 74 balls (F Allen 43, W Smeed 36; R Khan 3/26)
Player of the Match
Birmingham Phoenix fans couldn’t have asked more from the debutant Smeed. The 19-year-old set Edgbaston on fire with a 13-ball 36, and it set the tone for a comfortable win. Patel and van der Gugten couldn’t find a way to keep Smeed quiet. Both combined conceded three sixes and as many boundaries. Rashid dismissed him in the 22nd ball of Birmingham Phoenix’s innings. But the Trent Rockets faithful knew the game had slipped away from them.
Top Fantasy XI
R Khan (80 pts), M Ali (73 pts), D Malan (71 pts), W Smeed (65 pts), S Patel (64 pts), A Milne (60 pts), F Allen (55 pts), A Hales (49 pts), L Livingstone (40 pts), B Howell (31 pts), T Helm (23 pts)
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Parameswaran Sankaranarayanan
Parameswaran Sankaranarayan is a sports enthusiast who has worked in print, website, and other digital platforms. He was part of the editorial team of first-ever Indian football-based website - IndianFootball.com (now defunct) - and passionately follows the latest happenings in world football. During his time as a journalist, he had the opportunity to interact with some of the iconic personalities in Indian sports and witness some memorable moments in Indian football.
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