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
'Absolutely outrageous!' - Brook hits six on first ball
Alex Hartley
Former England bowler on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra
That looked like it really hurt. Mohammad Amir is rolling all over the floor.
This will be a big blow for the Superchargers if he cannot get up.
Ouch!
We're going to have a bit of a delay as Steve Smith has crunched a ball back at Mohammad Amir and hit the bowler's foot/ ankle.
Saved four but he's stayed down and the physio is on the way out to assess the damage.
Kieran Parmley
Cricviz analyst
Economy Rate at Headingley:
Headingley is the fastest scoring ground in the history of the men's competition but turning to spin frequently could be key. This ranks as only the fourth fastest scoring ground against spin while it's the fastest scoring when facing the quicks.
Easy pickings for Jonny Bairstow.
On the hip from Mohammad Amir and the former England man tickles it fine. Four more.
Alex Hartley
Former England bowler on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra
Brilliant shot from Jonny Bairstow. He gets it crunched through the covers for four.
For a couple of balls Tom Lawes has got away with things but these two batters aren't missing much.
Slapped through the covers for four by Jonny Bairstow.
Too much width from Tom Lawes and he takes full advantage.
Four more, shovelled behind square on the leg side. Less elegant but the result is the same.
Alex Hartley
Former England bowler on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra
Brilliant fielding from Tom Lawes. He is throwing himself around on the field.
Fantastic fielding on the boundary from Tom Lawes, racing around and putting in the full-length dive to deny Jonny Bairstow a boundary.
Steady start all-round. Plenty of communication between Smith and Bairstow so far as well, the former passing on some info to let his partner know what a variation from Mohammad Amir was doing.
Matthew Henry
BBC Sport journalist at Headingley
Ben Stokes didn't appear to be too hands-on in his mentor role. He did put some cones and stumps out for the warm-ups.
Alex Hartley
Former England bowler on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra
It is sensible that the Northern Superchargers have chosen to bowl. You never really know what a good score is so at least you know how to go about the run chase.
The balls are doing more than they used to, since they were changed from the white Kookaburra balls.
Steve Smith is off the mark first ball on his Hundred debut, just a single off left-arm spinner Imad Wasim.
He gets the strike back after a single from Jonny Bairstow and then crunches the ball through the covers after giving himself room. Four.
Here comes the teams. Big cheers for the Northern Superchargers fielders.
Then come the Welsh Fire openers. The stadium announcer knows what he's doing, Jonny Bairstow is named first and then leaves a big gap - cue big cheers for the Yorkshireman - before announcing Steve Smith.
Inevitable and prolonged boos follow.
Team mentor and head coach in conversation.
If these two are able to instil in their team an ability to deliver in the big moments the way they have over the years, Superchargers could be a force to be reckoned with this year...
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, Getty ImagesEngland Test captain Ben Stokes has joined Northern Superchargers in The Hundred as a mentor.
Stokes, who played five games for Superchargers across the 2021 and 2024 tournaments, will join the men's team for the duration of this year's competition.
In was announced in February that the all-rounder would miss the 100-ball competition this summer to manage his fitness before the Ashes in Australia this winter.
Having sustained a shoulder injury that ruled him out of the fifth Test between England and India, Stokes would not have been fit to play in any case.
However, the 34-year-old will still hope to make an impact by providing his expertise as he joins head coach Andrew Flintoff's backroom staff at the Superchargers.
Kieran Parmley
Cricviz analyst
Steve Smith's last domestic T20 match in England was in June 2010 for Worcestershire against Nottinghamshire.
Smith scored five off eight balls batting at number five and picked up 2-35 from his full four over allocation.
That's right. Ashes nemeses for so long, Jonny Bairstow and Steve Smith are now not only team-mates but Welsh Fire's opening pair.
This is what can happen with franchise cricket.
Northern Superchargers: Zak Crawley, Dawid Malan, Michael Pepper (wk), Harry Brook (c), Dan Lawrence, David Miller, Imad Wasim, Tom Lawes, Matt Potts, Adil Rashid, Mohammad Amir.
Welsh Fire: Jonny Bairstow (wk), Steven Smith, Luke Wells, Tom Abell (c), Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Paul Walter, Saif Zaib, Chris Green, David Payne, Josh Hull, Riley Meredith.
Harry Brook captains Northern Superchargers tonight and he wins the toss and decides he wants to chase.
That means Welsh Fire will get first go on this Headingley surface. Just wait until you see their opening pairing...
Who's ready for part two of today's Hundred double-header?
It's Northern Superchargers against Welsh Fire at Headingley and after a convincing win for the home side in the women's game, Fire will be aiming to hit back in the men's game tonight.
Let's get to the news from the toss then...
| 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 |
