Liam Livingstone produced one of the finest all-round performances in white-ball cricket to help Birmingham Phoenix (BPH) crush Northern Superchargers (NOS) by eight wickets and steer them to the Hundred final. A three-wicket haul and a scintillating 92* – the joint-highest individual score in the tournament – from the stand-in captain made the difference at Headingley.
The home side went with three spinners as Callum Parkinson found a place in the playing eleven. They also added pacer Matthew Fisher. Birmingham Phoenix, meanwhile, handed a debut to Somerset captain Tom Abell, who was back to full fitness after suffering a hamstring injury in June. Adam Milne, too, returned to the squad.
Northern Superchargers, put to bat first, got off to a flier. Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Chris Lynn ripped apart the Birmingham Phoenix bowlers. Dillon Pennington conceded 16 runs in his first set as Kohler-Cadmore hammered two sixes. At the other end, Lynn hit a six and a four off Milne.
It was Pat Brown who was at the receiving end of some fierce hitting by Kohler-Cadmore. The Birmingham Phoenix opener cleared the ropes thrice and hit two fours. The young pacer had a set of five to forget. The visitors were 65/0 at the end of the powerplay. The uncapped batter moved to 44 off just 17 balls.
The duo focused on rotating the strike instead of the big hits when Livingstone introduced Imran Tahir and Benny Howell into the attack. But Lynn greeted Pennington with a six in his first ball of the third set of five. Kohler-Cadmore reached his half-century in 24 balls.
Livingstone brought himself into the attack and removed Lynn and David Willey in his 10-ball spell. The Australian departed after giving a simple catch to Pennington and Willey, who hit a six in his first ball, perished trying to take the part-time spinner to the cleaners. Northern Superchargers were three down when Jordan Thompson holed out to Finn Allen at long-off.
Overseas batsman Dane Vilas became Livingstone’s third scalp. Abell took an excellent catch inside the 30-yard circle to dismiss the 36-year-old. Meanwhile, John Simpson hit a boundary after almost 20 balls as the hosts moved to 133/4 with 15 balls remaining. However, Howell sent Simpson back to the dressing room in his last set of five.
Northern Superchargers lost three wickets in the final five balls of the innings. They finished on 143/8 in their 100 balls. The home fans looked dejected after their team’s stunning collapse, losing eight wickets for just 48 runs.
In their chase of 143, Willey cleaned up Will Smeed in the fourth ball of the innings. Livingstone, who came at No. 3, picked up from where he left off last game. He thrashed Parkinson and Willey, adding 31 runs in the final two sets of five before the powerplay. The England international smashed three sixes in five balls off the Northern Superchargers’ stand-in captain and twice cleared the ropes in Parkinson’s second set of five.
With his seventh six in the match, Livingstone brought up his third half-century in the tournament. It took him 20 balls to reach the fifty-mark – the fastest in the Hundred. Meanwhile, Allen struck two fours and a six in Adil Rashid’s second set of five. Birmingham Phoenix was cruising towards the target.
After Livingstone smacked two sixes off Ben Raine, Northern Superchargers called for a strategic timeout. The scorecard read 108/1 in 50 balls. Parkinson finally broke the destructive second-wicket stand, but Birmingham Phoenix needed just 24 from 40 balls. Livingstone hit two sixes and two fours in six balls to help his side march towards the final with 26 balls remaining.
NOS 143/8 in 100 balls (T Cadmore 71; L Livingstone 3/25, B Howell 2/18)
BPH 147/2 in 74 balls (L Livingstone 92*, F Allen 42; C Parkinson 1/36)
Player of the Match
Livingstone single-handedly took his team into the final of the inaugural edition of the 100-ball tournament. A match-turning 3/25, which included the prize capture of Lynn and a thunderous knock of 92* – three fours and ten sixes – couldn’t have come at a better time for the Moeen Ali-less franchise. He also brought a great delight to 39% of fantasy cricket players who had picked the Lancashire batsman as their captain.
Top Fantasy XI
L Livingstone (218 pts), T Cadmore (97 pts), F Allen (62 pts), B Howell (58 pts), A Milne (56 pts), C Lynn (44 pts), D Willey (32 pts), J Simpson (29 pts), C Parkinson (27 pts), T Abell (21 pts), D Pennington (16 pts)
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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