Summary

  • Conway (35*) sees Brave to easy win

  • Mills takes hat-trick as Fire bowled out for 87

  • Eskinazi top-scores with 38 for hosts

  • Bairstow out for a duck on Fire return

Live Reporting

Callum Matthews

  1. Fire 5-1

    Perfect start for Craig Overton.

    Alongside the wicket he doesn't concede a run and the pressure is building on Fire already.

  2. Phil Tufnell
    Former England spinner on BBC Two

    He can't do everything every time, can he? He didn't get hold of it at all and just plinked it to mid-off.

    Jonny Bairstow will be disappointed. Big breakthrough for the Brave, Bairstow can destroy you in the powerplay.

  3. wicket

    WICKET

    Bairstow c Du Plooy b C Overton 0 (Fire 5-1)

    Jonny Bairstow has gone without scoring!

    After three dot balls Bairstow looks to play an expansive shot but doesn't time it properly at it.

    He just skews the drive up to mid-off and stand-in captain Leus du Plooy takes a simple catch.

    Good start for 2021 champions Brave.

  4. Steven Finn
    Former England bowler on BBC Two

    Stevie Eskinazi has probably been a bit unlucky not to get picked up in The Hundred the last couple of years.

    He's been one of the premium batters in T20 cricket around the country. He's added to his game almost in frustration at not being picked up.

  5. Phil Tufnell
    Former England spinner on BBC Two

    Stevie Eskinazi can be devastating up top when he gets motoring.

  6. Fire 5-0

    Matthew Fisher starts with the ball for Brave.

    Stevie Eskinazi gets up and running with a gorgeous drive to the cover boundary, before Fisher beats Jonny Bairstow as he looks to drive.

  7. Phil Tufnell
    Former England spinner on BBC Two

    Great to see Jonny Bairstow back. There's not a ground big enough when he gets going, he's brutal with the bat.

  8. Right, time for cricket.

    Jonny Bairstow is back in the red of Welsh Fire.

    He scored 128 runs in two innings in the first year of the competition in 2021 before opting out of the 2022 competition.

  9. Southern Brave stand-in captain Leus du Plooy: "We're going to have a bowl first, set the tone with the ball and them hopefully knock off the runs.

    "It's a big loss to lose Vincey but it gives another guy a big chance to come in and do well. I'm sure we'll be fine."

  10. Welsh Fire captain Tom Abell: "We’re really happy with how our team is set up and how we’re playing. Winning breeds confidence.

    "We’ve got Jonny coming back in today as well, which is huge.

    "We don’t want to change too much, we feel like we’re playing good cricket. We want to stick to our strengths."

  11. This game is live on BBC Two!

    Grab your remote and turn it on, or you'll find it on BBC iPlayer or by pressing the play icon at the top of the page.

  12. The teams

    Welsh Fire: Jonny Bairstow, Stevie Eskinazi, Joe Clarke (wk), Tom Abell (c), Glenn Phillips, David Willey, Ben Green, Roelof van der Merwe, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, David Payne.

    Southern Brave: Finn Allen, Devon Conway (wk), Leus du Plooy (c), Joe Weatherley, Rehan Ahmed, Tim David, James Fuller, George Garton, Craig Overton, Matt Fisher, Tymal Mills.

  13. Southern Brave win toss and bowl

    Oh, there's no James Vince tonight. He's unwell.

    Leus du Plooy is going to captain Brave in his absence and he wins the toss and opts to bowl first.

  14. I've got big news too!

    Jonny Bairstow is back.

    It's also Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf's final game of the tournament this year so they'll be wanting to deliver fireworks too.

    Full teams in a minute.

  15. Three down, one to go.

    Another day of thrilling Hundred action is nearing a climax.

    What has Welsh Fire v Southern Brave got in store?

    Let's find out.