The Hundred: Northern Superchargers v Welsh Fire, Headingley
Superchargers chase 144 to win by eight wickets, with 11 balls to spare
Crawley hits sparkling unbeaten 67 off 38 balls; Malan strikes 41 off 29
Fire 143-9: Bairstow 42 (23); Rashid 2-25
Fire openers Bairstow and Smith put on 62 before visitors slump to 102-5
Friday's double header is between Birmingham Phoenix and Trent Rockets at Edgbaston
So, a winning start for Northern Superchargers as they beat Welsh Fire by eight wickets, spearheaded by an unbeaten half-century from Zak Crawley.
You can read Sam Drury's report here.
The cricket is coming thick and fast with Birmingham Phoenix and Trent Rockets in action at Edgbaston on Friday.
We'll have coverage of both matches, starting at 14:45 BST. See you then!
Northern Superchargers captain Harry Brook speaking on Sky Sports: "Very nice start from the guys. I thought we bowled well and to seal the deal at the end is a really good start."
On Matthew Potts: "Potts was terrific last year and we wanted early wickets. Potts was the man for that he did amazing."
On Zak Crawley: "He is an amazing player. We have seen him play well in Test cricket and this is the exact reason we got him. He can smack anyone to anywhere."
On tiredness after the India Test series: "Thankfully these games are fairly short so you can sleep through the day! I love playing in the Hundred and it's good to be back at Headingley."
Player of the match Zak Crawley speaking on Sky Sports: "I loved it, coming here with Freddie [Flintoff] who is a legend. It was an awesome wicket to bat on as well.
"It felt really good with the boys. The outfield was so rapid and we tried to hit big shots. It came off and the boys kept them to a really good total. Overall a great performance."
On his partnerships: David [Malan] and I complement each other really well and then the skipper [Harry Brook] came in and did what he does. He made it really easy at the end.
"We managed to break their partnerships fairly early and take regular wickets. The boys did well to keep them to 140 which was very reachable."
Image source, Getty ImagesZak Crawley, who finished unbeaten on 67 (38) to guide Northern Superchargers to an eight-wicket win over Welsh Fire, has been named player of the match.
It's a good day to be a Northern Superchargers fan.
Both the men's and women's side are off to winning starts in 2025.
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, Getty Images
Kieran Parmley
Cricviz analyst
This is the first time Northern Superchargers have won their opening home game of a Men's Hundred campaign.
Alex Hartley
Former England bowler on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra
Dominant from the Superchargers. They never really looked like losing that.
They kept Fire to a fairly average score in the first innings. You felt that Superchargers had another level to go to as well.
Zak Crawley guides Chris Green away for four.
Northern Superchargers win by eight wickets with 11 balls to spare.
Crawley finishes unbeaten on 67 (38) - the highest individual score in this year's competition. Harry Brook is 25 not out off 15.
Single. Single. Single. The scores are level. Zak Crawley to hit the winning runs...
Alex Hartley
Former England bowler on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra
How has he done that? That is such a good shot. He just guides it, doesn't even follow though.
Great shot from Brook.
Need four runs to win
Aaaaaaaaand now a six from Harry Brook.
In the blink of an eye, Northern Superchargers are only four runs away from victory.
Need 10 runs to win
Short ball. Pummelled for four by Harry Brook.
Alex Hartley
Former England bowler on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra
Brook has struggled to find the boundary since that first six but Crawley is on the charge.
Crawley is at the stage where if he's going to swing, he's going to swing hard.
Need 15 runs to win
A streaky boundary for Zak Crawley, edging David Payne, but they all count. Four.
Kieran Parmley
Cricviz analyst
Welsh Fire had a 77% catch success rate during the Men's Hundred last season, the lowest for any side and 7% lower than the tournament average of 85%.
Need 19 runs to win
Every time the ball comes towards Saif Zaib, the Western Terrace erupts into pantomime ooohs and jeers. He safely fields two ground balls.
Riley Meredith finishes with 2-33 from his 20 balls.
Alex Hartley
Former England bowler on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra
Saif Zaib was ready to take the catch but he gets a lot of stick from the crowd.
A bad drop.
Henry Moeran
Test Match Special commentator on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra
They will not give you much sympathy for a drop like that.
Superchargers 120-2
Poor old Saif Zaib. He's dropped Harry Brook in the deep. Cue jeers from the Superchargers fans behind him.
The home side need 24 runs off 25 balls.
Alex Hartley
Former England bowler on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra
Zak Crawley has been so in control of this innings. That was flat down the ground and the Welsh Fire head coach has to dive out the way of it.
| Batter | Runs | Balls | Dots | 4s | 6s | Minutes | Strike Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Smith,bowled Potts Smith, bowled Potts | 29 | 18 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 32 | 161.11 |
Bairstow,caught Crawley, bowled Rashid Bairstow, caught Crawley, bowled Rashid | 42 | 23 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 40 | 182.61 |
Wells,caught Pepper, bowled Potts Wells, caught Pepper, bowled Potts | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 |
Abell,run out Crawley Abell, run out Crawley | 18 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 163.64 |
Kohler-Cadmore,bowled Lawes Kohler-Cadmore, bowled Lawes | 10 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 76.92 |
Zaib,caught Brook, bowled Imad Zaib, caught Brook, bowled Imad | 13 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 130.00 |
Walter,caught Crawley, bowled Rashid Walter, caught Crawley, bowled Rashid | 15 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 150.00 |
Green,caught Lawrence, bowled Amir Green, caught Lawrence, bowled Amir | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 75.00 |
Payne,bowled Imad Payne, bowled Imad | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 |
Hull,not out Hull, not out | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 100.00 |
Meredith,not out Meredith, not out | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 140.00 |
Extras, no balls 0, wides 3, byes 0, leg byes 0, total 3 Extras, no balls 0, wides 3, byes 0, leg byes 0, total 3 | |||||||
Total,143 for 9 100 balls Total,143 for 9 100 balls |
| Bowler | Balls | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Dots | No balls | Wides | 4s | 6s | Economy rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Imad | 20 | 0 | 26 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 7.80 |
Amir | 20 | 0 | 28 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 8.40 |
Lawes | 15 | 0 | 19 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7.60 |
Potts | 15 | 0 | 26 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 10.40 |
Rashid | 20 | 0 | 25 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7.50 |
Lawrence | 10 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 11.40 |
| Fall of wicket | Batter |
|---|---|
62 for 1 (37 balls) | Smith |
62 for 2 (38 balls) | Wells |
78 for 3 (44 balls) | Bairstow |
99 for 4 (62 balls) | Abell |
102 for 5 (68 balls) | Kohler-Cadmore |
125 for 6 (84 balls) | Walter |
132 for 7 (88 balls) | Zaib |
133 for 8 (90 balls) | Payne |
133 for 9 (92 balls) | Green |
| Batter | Runs | Balls | Dots | 4s | 6s | Minutes | Strike Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Crawley,not out Crawley, not out | 67 | 38 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 70 | 176.32 |
Malan,caught Payne, bowled Meredith Malan, caught Payne, bowled Meredith | 41 | 29 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 38 | 141.38 |
Pepper,leg before wicket, bowled Meredith Pepper, leg before wicket, bowled Meredith | 4 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 57.14 |
Brook,not out Brook, not out | 25 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 20 | 166.67 |
Extras, no balls 0, wides 7, byes 0, leg byes 3, total 10 Extras, no balls 0, wides 7, byes 0, leg byes 3, total 10 | |||||||
Total,147 for 2 89 balls Total,147 for 2 89 balls |
| Bowler | Balls | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Dots | No balls | Wides | 4s | 6s | Economy rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Payne | 15 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 12.80 |
Hull | 15 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10.40 |
Green | 19 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 7.26 |
Meredith | 20 | 0 | 33 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9.90 |
Walter | 10 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 10.20 |
Wells | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9.60 |
Zaib | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.00 |
| Fall of wicket | Batter |
|---|---|
91 for 1 (52 balls) | Malan |
100 for 2 (62 balls) | Pepper |