Southern Brave made it three wins from four in The Hundred this year by thrashing Welsh Fire at Sophia Gardens.
James Vince’s match-winning 73 from 50 balls in the first innings set Fire 140 to win, and the home side never threatened to reach the target – leaving Brave ending the night on top of the table in the men’s competition.
Welsh Fire had won the toss and elected to field first, but the Brave batters worked well in partnerships with Alex Davies, Leus du Plooy and Kieron Pollard all supporting the in-form Vince’s superb 73 not out, which included seven fours and three sixes.
A Chris Jordan cameo in the final 10 balls featured a 98-metre six, before he fell to the last ball, skying David Payne and being well caught by Willey.
Haris Rauf (2-22) and Matt Henry (1-20) were the standout bowlers for Welsh Fire, with the home side hoping conditions under the lights might favour a big chase.
In reply though, Luke Wells and Jonny Bairstow struggled to get opening bowlers Akeal Hossein and Craig Overton away, with just 29 scored from the first 30 balls and the bowlers making life difficult with significant swing.
Both opening batters then fell in quick succession as the Brave took control, with Tymal Mills (4-16), Danny Briggs (3-14) and Chris Jordan (2-19) running through the Welsh Fire batting order to seal a very comfortable victory.
Player of the match: James Vince
“It was nice to get the win. I think, batting first, we found it quite tricky. but at halfway you never quite know until both sides have batted,” said Vince.
“The way we bowled throughout, but particularly up front, was fantastic and proved it was reasonably tough out there.
“Our bowlers have dovetailed really well – Akeal and Craig with the new ball and then CJ and Tymal through the back end – they’ve done it so many times and we are in nice rhythm at the minute. The bowlers have been fantastic and I think the batters did a good job on that pitch as well.”
What’s next?
The Hundred continues with four matches on Tuesday. Manchester Originals and Oval Invincibles women get the day started at 11.30pm followed by the men at 3pm.
Birmingham Phoenix and Northern Superchargers women play at 3pm followed by the men at 6.30pm, with all four matches live on Sky Sports Cricket.
