Salt dropped on 8published at 4 balls

4 balls

Originals 9-0

Pretty dramatic start, this!

Phil Salt gets lucky with an inside edge that darts past his stumps for four more before he clips one very firmly to Henry Brookes.

It's a tough chance: hit hard, he's behind the batter at short fine leg and has to dive but it's a definite opportunity.

Yep, in the mood.

It takes Phil Salt just two balls to find the first boundary.

Saqib Mahmood
England bowler on BBC Two

I'm not a fan, you've got to go full beard for me.

Phil Tufnell
Former England spinner on BBC Two

That is some tash on Ben Dwarshuis.

Ben Dwarshius, who is sporting a quite remarkable moustache, takes the first ball and Phil Salt smashes it straight to the fielder.

But it's a firm strike. He's in the mood.

Ravi Bopara
Former England all-rounder on BBC Two

Phil Salt is a blistering player.

I've played with at Sussex and he just plays his shots from ball one. He just goes out and plays his shots. He's got a very good eye.

Now then.

Openers Phil Salt and Laurie Evans smashed 102 for the first wicket from just 42 balls last time out. Yes, FORTY-TWO.

The teams make their way out to the field and Edgbaston roars.

Let's go.

Steven Finn
Former England bowler on BBC Two

Manchester Originals have got a different balance to the team now but they've still got plenty of power with Phil Salt, Laurie Evans and Tristan Stubbs.

Tom Lammonby had a really good T20 Blast with Somerset and with him being left handed he'll be able to target the short boundary too. Evans told us he didn't want too many dot balls!

With a lot of speculation about Jason Roy's place at the top of the order for England at the moment, every opportunity has to be grabbed by the players waiting behind him.

Step forward Will Smeed of Birmingham Phoenix and Manchester Originals' Phil Salt.

The latter is already in and around the England fold and is perhaps the most obvious replacement for Roy. He's had a good tournament too, scoring 238 runs in six games and at a healthy strike-rate of 157.62.

Smeed, who scored the first century in The Hundred earlier in the tournament, is perhaps the outside bet to replace Roy if England decide to make a change.

He exclusively plays T20 and Hundred cricket at the moment, and at just 20 he's looks certain to have a bright future in the game. He's scored 147 runs, at a strike-rate of 172.94 this year.

Image source, ECB/BBC Sport

Ravi Bopara
London Spirit batter on BBC Two

It's a big call to leave out Imran Tahir, but that's how much Livingstone not being there has impacted Birmingham Phoenix because he offers you so much with both bat and ball.

Steven Finn
Former England bowler on BBC Two

Liam Livingstone is a big loss, he is such a complete cricketer.

There will be a bit more pressure on Will Smeed to step up in his absence.

Birmingham Phoenix captain Moeen Ali to Sky Sports: "We would have batted as well but we're not too fussed. There is a small boundary but going off the pitches here recently we'd have batted first.

"The stakes are high but we're playing against a good team tonight and we're just looking to take it one game at at time and not get too far ahead of ourselves."

Manchester Originals captain Laurie Evans to Sky Sports: "There are some stats that back up the decision and we've done it well all through the competition so we're going to stick to our strengths.

"We've played with nothing to lose since the first three games so hopefully we can continue that and back up the women today."

Birmingham Phoenix: Miles Hammond, Will Smeed, Moeen Ali, Chris Benjamin, Matthew Wade, Brett D'Oliveira, Benny Howell, Ben Dwarshuis, Tom Helm, Henry Brookes, Kane Richardson.

Manchester Originals: Phil Salt, Laurie Evans, Wayne Madsen, Tristan Stubbs, Paul Walter, Tom Lammonby, Tom Hartley, Ashton Turner, Fred Klaassen, Matt Parkinson, Josh Little.

Originals captain Laurie Evans opts to bat first.

They hit the highest team score in The Hundred last time out against Northern Superchargers, smashing 208 from 100 balls. Will we see that record broken again tonight?

Ravi Bopara
London Spirit batter on BBC Two

The competition is wide open now. We [London Spirit] were clear at the top but all of a sudden everyone's bunched together and it's going to come down to the last game!

A big blow for Birmingham Phoenix as big hitter and England international Liam Livingstone has been ruled out of the rest of The Hundred with an ankle injury.

But he has also been signed by the Melbourne Renegades in Australia's Big Bash League - having been the first pick of the draft.

He will certainly be missed by Phoenix and the home crowd tonight.

Image source, Getty Images

Don't forget that tonight's game is live on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer, so make sure you don't miss out on any of the action!

Good evening! Manchester Originals have just taken the bragging rights in game one at Edgbaston, but what will the men's game bring?

It's a big one - the Originals will be knocked out if they lose, while Phoenix will leapfrog the Invincibles into third place with a win.

Who will take the glory?