The Hundred 2023: Welsh Fire stay in play-off contention with low-scoring win over London Spirit
- Published
Phillips hits six to seal victory for Welsh Fire
The Hundred men's competition, Sophia Gardens |
London Spirit 109-9 (100 balls): Bopara 24* (20); Henry 2-15, Payne 2-17 |
Welsh Fire 110-4 (93 balls): Bairstow 40 (38), Abell 37* (26); Worrall 3-24 |
Welsh Fire won by six wickets |
Welsh Fire kept themselves in the race for a place in The Hundred knockout stages with a nervy six-wicket win over London Spirit.
The bowlers were on top throughout in a low-scoring contest with Spirit slumping to 19-4 and 43-5 before a recovery of sorts took them to 109-9.
Fire then slipped to 15-3 before Jonny Bairstow and Tom Abell got the chase back on track.
A late flurry got Fire over the line with seven balls to spare.
Victory moves Fire up to fifth, level on points with Trent Rockets and Southern Brave - in third and fourth respectively - with one game left to play.
Spirit are a point further back in sixth but play already eliminated Birmingham Phoenix in their final match.
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After facing six dot balls to start the match, England Test opener Zak Crawley was dismissed by David Willey for two from 11 balls.
With Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf having left for international duty with Pakistan, Welsh Fire brought in New Zealanders Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson. Both took two wickets, as did their fellow Fire seamers Willey and David Payne.
Spirit were in danger of failing to reach three figures before cameos from Matt Critchley and Liam Dawson, batting alongside Ravi Bopara, late in the innings.
Spirit fast bowler Dan Worrall bowled all 20 of his allocated balls before the end of the powerplay, taking 3-24.
Needing 22 from 15 balls, Fire avoided an even more tense finale by taking 15 from the next five balls with Abell hitting Daryl Mitchell, who was surprisingly brought into the attack for the first time in the match so late on, back over his head for four and then six.
Glenn Phillips - who earlier took a fantastic catch in the deep - sealed the win in style with a huge six back down the ground.
'We were desperate to win' - what they said
Match hero, Fire captain Abell: "I'm very happy. We came into tonight desperate for a win with finals not far away - it still feels like we are in the hunt. I'm chuffed for the boys.
"We had to adapt to the wicket and it helps when you have a world-class bowling line-up. We knew any chase would be tricky but it was a case of trying to take wickets but building pressure throughout the middle.
"I thought the lads stuck to their plans brilliantly and it was backed up by some good fielding."
Fire batter Bairstow on Sky Sports: "It was pretty clear that it was quite a tough wicket to play big shots on so it was about being a bit more calculated and any width had to travel but if it was straight, it was about trying to keep it out.
"We've spoken about tempos and going up and down, and you just have to adapt as and when."
You can watch Hundred matches on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer every Wednesday and Saturday throughout the competition, alongside both finals on Sunday, 27 August. More details.