Welsh Fire relishing 'special' first Hundred before Trent Rockets double-header

Georgia Hennessy was the first woman to score a century in the Birmingham Cricket League

Welsh Fire are hoping to prolong their "special" first taste of The Hundred as the group stage passes its halfway point with Friday's double-header against Trent Rockets.

The Fire's men's and women's teams have both won two and lost two games so far.

Trent Rockets Women are a place behind the Fire in fifth, while their men sit second in their table, four places but just two points in front of the Fire.

"The girls are loving the buzz," said Welsh Fire batter Georgia Hennessy.

"It's so exciting to be in the first year of it. That's something that no one can take away from me whether we do well or not as players.

"I think it's the start of something very special and I think we will have at least a few more years of it."

Welsh Fire women lost their opening two matches against Northern Superchargers and Southern Brave before responding with wins against Manchester Originals and Oval Invincibles.

"It's nice to get a couple wins after the start we had," Hennessy added.

"Momentum is high and it was nice to celebrate that second win on the road [at the Oval].

"I think we faced the two hardest teams at the start so I think we did well to bounce back."

Welsh Fire's men have done things the other way round from their female counterparts, winning both their opening fixtures against the same opponents before losing their most recent two.

They have been hit by a spate of withdrawals, with captain Jonny Bairstow called up to England's Test squad and fast bowlers Liam Plunkett and Jake Ball forced to pull out with injuries. Matt Milnes, Graeme White and Luke Fletcher have replaced those three.

Overseas players Kieron Pollard, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Jhye Richardson and Lungi Ngidi have also all withdrawn from The Hundred at different times.

That means the Welsh Fire's overseas players are Afghan spinner Qais Ahmad and New Zealand all-rounders Jimmy Neesham and Glenn Phillips.

Glenn Phillips has experience of franchise cricket having played in the Caribbean Premier League

Phillips has been in explosive form in international T20 cricket over the past year, scoring the fastest century by a New Zealander when he blasted one from just 46 balls against the West Indies in November.

The 24-year-old has not been at his best so far in The Hundred - hitting 46 runs from four innings at a strike rate of 104.55 - but he is hoping to rediscover his touch in the remaining four group games.

"Yeah, absolutely. We had Bairstow and Bants [Tom Banton] take it away in the first couple of games so that's the way things go, it's a team game and we all enjoy each other's success," said Phillips.

"The last two games didn't go our way, such is cricket.

"For me, it's just a matter of time I guess."