Birmingham Phoenix moved back into the top three of the Hundred with an important win at Edgbaston, knocking Trent Rockets out of this year’s competition in the process.
Tim Southee took 5 wickets to restrict Rockets to 118 before Liam Livingstone and Jacob Bethell ) helped Phoenix into a play-in spot with a cautious pursuit.
Birmingham Phoenix won the toss and elected to bowl, which proved to be a great decision from Moeen Ali as his pace attack put on a swing bowling display at the start of the first innings.
The dangerous quartet of Tom Banton, Alex Hales, Joe Root and Rovman Powell were dismissed in the first 30 overs as Rockets fell behind 22-4.
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Birmingham Phoenix take back-to-back wickets from Alex Hales and Joe Root
Tom Alsop made his hundred debut as he and Pakistan international Imad Wasim re-established a 50-run partnership for the visitors before Wasim was dismissed for running Ball retired No. 29 and was replaced by Chris Green.
The Australian all-rounder returned to the Rockets to replace the injured Rashid Khan, but he played just five balls before being replaced by Adam Milne, who deservedly took a wicket.
Alsop reached his half-century before being dismissed by the brilliant Southee, who finished with 5-12 and briefly thought he had scored a hat-trick, only to have it overturned by an LBW call.
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Watch Tom Alsop score half-century on debut for Trent Rockets
Trent Rockets helped Phoenix win with 119 points and Ben Duckett got off to a good start with 30 of his 16 points before the Rockets came back at them. Luke Wood set the stage for Birmingham’s fast start with successive passes from Duckett and Jamie Smith.
Moeen Ali and Livingstone steadied the ship for a while before speedy John Turner (2-17) dismissed skipper Moeen and Dan Mousley Mousley).
The visitors realized this was their chance to apply pressure in the chase and they began to limit Phoenix’s scoring chances before Luke Wood released the pressure with a no-ball free-kick, which Bethell sent into the stands for the hosts. The field team provides help and gives this side some breathing room.
Bethell (38 off 29) and Livingston (30 off 32) then put together a half-century partnership to take Phoenix home with seven balls left to chase them.
With one game remaining for each team, three teams have a chance to join the Oval Invincibles in the knockout round: Phoenix, Southern Brave and Northern Superchargers. Defeat for Trent Rockets meant that for the likes of London Spirit, Manchester Originals and Wells Flames, their tournament was over.
Man of the Match – Tim Southee
“It was a pretty good performance. I thought the bowlers assessed the conditions well and then the way the batsmen handled it at the end, Bethell and Livingstone sorted things out and picked good options. So. , I thought it was a very good overall – round performance.
“I think we’ve done really well over the last few games and have to get to know each other better. Obviously, Adam Milne and I have played a lot of cricket together, but for the other guys, it’s been really nice to have that experience. Great to play a few games together.
“We adapted to the conditions as quickly as possible, which helped us, and the ground gave us something and we tried to take advantage of it as much as possible.”
What to do next?
The Hundred will continue on Tuesday, August 13 with another doubleheader northern supercharger and spirit of london.
You can watch the women’s match on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket from 2.30pm, with the first match starting at 3pm, and the men’s match on Sky Sports Cricket from 6pm.
Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app, allowing Sky Sports customers to watch more than 50% of live sports for free this year. Learn more here.
