| Men’s Hundred, Emerald Headingley |
| Welsh Fire 173-4 (100 balls): Bairstow 56 (36), Duckett 41 (27); Stokes 1-8 |
| Northern Superchargers 168-7 (100 balls): Brook 62 (31), Ahmad 4-13 |
| Welsh Fire won by five runs |
| Scorecard; Table |
Jake Ball held his nerve as Welsh Fire won a high-scoring, see-sawing match against Northern Superchargers in the men’s Hundred at Emerald Headingley.
Chasing 174, Superchargers needed 11 from the last five balls but England bowler Ball limited them to five and in doing so secured a five-run win.
After Ball nailed a mix of slower balls, Matty Potts needed six from the last delivery for a tie but managed only a single.
Superchargers looked out of the game in their pursuit at 50-4, with Ben Stokes back in the pavilion, before a stunning assault from 22-year-old Harry Brook.
He hit five sixes in his 62 from 31 balls but was dismissed with 37 runs still needed by leg-spinner Qais Ahmad, who took a remarkable 4-13.
Earlier Stokes won the tussle with England team-mate Jonny Bairstow by having him caught in the deep, but not before Bairstow racked up 56 from 36 balls.
Brook and Bairstow star as batters turn up
The highest total in the first seven men’s and women’s matches the highest score was Birmingham Phoenix men’s 148-7. Fire’s 173-4 smashed that record as batters came to the Hundred party.
But Brook, a Yorkshire player, looked like he was going to carry Superchargers beyond it.
He cracked the ball around his boisterous home ground, hitting two sixes off consecutive balls off England World Cup winner Liam Plunkett before falling lbw to Ahmad.
“I don’t think it’s too long before we’ll see him with the three Lions,” England all-rounder Stokes said.
Fire’s total was built on an impressive start. They reached 43-0 after 23 balls and 93-1 after 62 with Bairstow dominating.
It helped that there was a short boundary. Jimmy Neesham targeted it in particular as he helped Fire take 22 runs from the final five balls of the innings, bowled by Brydon Carse.
There were quiet periods in the middle of each innings, however, which raises the question: just how high scores could get. 190? Maybe even 200?
Stokes wins battle with returning Bairstow
One of the most fascinating aspects of The Hundred is seeing England’s big-name players coming up against each other.
Bairstow had already smashed David Willey, another England team-mate, for six over the stand before Superchargers captain Stokes brought himself into the action.
He began with a leg-side wide but, with his third legitimate delivery, had Bairstow caught at deep mid-wicket off a short ball.
He had won the battle and later joked with Bairstow, pointing to his pocket to suggest that is where he belongs.
It was a curious night for Bradford-born Bairstow, returning to the ground where has played all his domestic cricket since making his debut Yorkshire debut in 2009.
He was booed to the middle – probably ironically – but received warm applause when he reached a 28-ball fifty.
Five-star De Lange sets up Rockets win
It’s been a week of firsts in the Hundred – the first game in the women’s and men’s competitions, then the first double-header, then the first double double-header, which included the first five-wicket haul.
It came in the early men’s game courtesy of Trent Rockets’ Marchant de Lange, who took 5-20 from 20 balls in a nine-wicket win over Southern Brave.
The South Africa pace bowler helped restrict Brave to 126-8, a score below par on what is normally a high-scoring Trent Bridge ground.
Rockets opener Alex Hales was bowled first ball of the reply but England’s Dawid Malan – the top-ranked Twenty20 batsman in the world – made an unbeaten 62 and D’Arcy Short 51 not out as Rockets cruised to a nine-wicket win with 18 balls to spare.
But De Lange, a 6ft 7in former javelin thrower, was the headline act, hitting an average speed of 90mph and clocked as fast as 93.4mph.
His former team-mate Harry Gurney described him as a “gentle giant”. It’s unlikely that the Brave batters would agree.
Article courtesy of BBC Sport
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