The Hundred Men's and Women's - Live Scores, Match Reports, Results, Scorecards 10th August
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The Hundred Men's and Women's - Live Scores, Match Reports, Results, Scorecards 10th August
Here are all The Hundred Men's and Women's - Live Scores, Match Reports, Results, Scorecards for 10th August.
The Hundred Mens
Top Tournament Stats - The Hundred Men's 2023
Birmingham Phoenix (Men) vs Welsh Fire (Men), 14th Match
Welsh Fire well and truly asserted their authority in the 2023 Men’s Hundred by thrashing Birmingham Phoenix by six wickets at Edgbaston.
There is a real feeling around the Fire camp that, for the first time, they can mount a real challenge in this year’s tournament and their dismantling of Phoenix certainly backed up that view.
Phoenix chose to bat but mustered only 112 for seven, never shedding the shackles of a focused and fired up Fire attack. David Payne led the way with excellent sets early and late on to finish with two for 11 while strong support was lent by Roelof van der Merwe (two for 16) and Haris Rauf (two for 20).
Phoenix’s limp effort with the bat left them needing something dynamic with the ball but Fire blazed to 116 for four from 85 balls after Steve Eskinazi launched their reply with a ferocious 18-bal 43. They charged to 50 without loss in 21 balls and never looked back – perhaps this is their year!
Phoenix found their early batting progress impeded by the skills of van der Merwe. The left-arm spinner removed Will Smeed, who sent up a skier, and Ben Duckett (25. 20 balls), caught at short fine leg, After Jamie Smith was bowled by an express yorker from Rauf, van der Merwe found himself under a top-edged hoik from Moeen Ali and held on at the third attempt.
Fire bowled with pace and purpose, encapsulated by the rapid, full-length delivery which eluded a crude attempt by Liam Livingstone (28, 20 balls) to land one among the spectators in the Hollies Stand. That usually raucous throng was as subdued as could be and a cadaverous haul of just six runs from the last ten balls, skilfully delivered by Shaheen Shah Afridi and Payne, did nothing to lift the noise levels.
Blaze took their momentum emphatically into the batting as Eskinazi improvised magnificently. He smashed, scooped, skewered and squeezed the ball to all areas on the way to 43 in an opening stand of 67 in 32 balls with Joe Clarke.
A crumb of hope came the home side’s way when Benny Howell removed both openers in five balls. When Luke Wells fell lbw, reverse sweeping Moeen Ali, three wickets had fallen for six runs in ten balls, but Fire’s fine work in the field had earned them the luxury of withstanding a wobble. Tom Abell (23 not out, 18 balls) saw the visitors home at a canter leaving the Hollies Stand as flat as a pancake and a distinguished, sombrero-wearing, first-time visitor to the usually ebullient venue reflecting that the highlight of her day was the nap in the sunshine in the first innings.
Phoenix captain Moeen Ali said:
"It was too few to defend especially after the start they got with the bat. We probably didn't bowl that well but these things can happen when you don't score many - you get a bit anxious and search for wickets. Towards the end we showed a bit of fight which was probably the only positive of the night.
"Another maybe 30 runs would have been nice but they bowled well. Then I thought we bowled poorly. Eskinazi batted well but I don't think they were good balls that he hit. It was always going to be difficult because we didn't get enough runs, but we also have to make the opposition hit the boundaries rather than give them up.
"The wicket didn't really suit our team. They have some world-class bowlers but when we have played really well here the wickets were really good and suited our batting because we like to play shots and we like pace on the ball.
"We are facing must-win games now. We have got to win all four to stand any sort of chance of going through but we know we can do that. I know we have got the players and the team with the experience to do it."
Fire batter Steve Eskinazi said:
"I thought the easiest time to bat would be at the top. I watched them bat and, as soon as our spinners came on and we changed the pace through the middle, it looked really difficult. In the women's game it looked the same, so that way of batting is my game plan in every game of cricket I ever play, but even more so today.
"It was a fantastic effort from our guys with the ball. I feel that we have got a really well-balanced attack, full of experienced guys who know what they're doing. It's great to play with a group of players who know their games so well.
"They have played all around the world and are really confident in their skill-sets. I am really proud of the way the guys went tonight. We started well and then never really let them into the game. When you have got the likes of Haris and Shaheen and then David and Payney are two of the best in England, so it's just relentless the way they keep coming at you. It's certainly an attack I wouldn't want to be playing against.
"The beauty of this competition is enjoying every day. We are a new group and riding the wave a little bit and not looking too far ahead. We are not taking anything for granted but just enjoying each other's company and I feel that is reflected on the pitch. If we keep doing things like tonight, we could go further in the competition which would be nice."
The Hundred Womens
Top Tournament Stats - The Hundred Women's 2023
Birmingham Phoenix (Women) vs Welsh Fire (Women), 14th Match
Shabnim Ismail bowled Welsh Fire to a sensational victory with a hat-trick with the last three balls of the innings to secure their three-run Women's Hundred victory over Birmingham Phoenix at Edgbaston.
The resurgence of Fire continues after Ismail’s ice-cool display prevented the home side scoring any of the four runs they needed to win from the last three balls. The South Africa international finished with three for 31 as Phoenix, chasing 137 for seven, ended on 134 for four to suffer a heartbreaking defeat.
Tammy Beaumont’s stylish 59 (40 balls) lifted Fire to 137 but Phoenix looked in command of the chase while Tess Flintoff (44, 45 balls) and Amy Jones (48 not out, 34) were adding 93 in 67 balls. But Ismail’s brilliant hat-trick leaves the Birmingham side with a lot of work to do to climb into the qualification race after a staccato first half of the campaign has brought two defeats and two washouts.
Phoenix chose to bowl but took 48 balls to break through as openers Beaumont and Hayley Matthews added 72 before the latter (23, 23 balls) cut Hannah Baker to point.
Beaumont batted imperiously, dancing down the track to lift a gorgeous straight six off Levick on the way to a 36-ball half-century. As well as the six, the captain struck nine fours but perished in pursuit of a tenth which she lifted Flintoff to deep mid-wicket where Burns took a fine catch, stooping low to her right.
As Phoenix began to reel in the scoring rate, Laura Harris fell lbw, reverse-sweeping Emily Arlott. Sophie Dunkley (25, 19 balls) stoked the Fire again with six over mid-wicket off Arlott but Phoenix built pressure and caught well in the closing sets.
Needing to pull off the sixth-biggest chase in Women’s Hundred history, Phoenix were positively launched by Sophie Devine (29, 19 balls). Her charge was ended by Alex Griffiths’ first ball, a perfect, inswinging yorker, but Amy Jones was fluent from the moment she reached the crease.
Flintoff and Jones took their side into the last 20 balls with 27 needed but boundaries were few and Griffiths bowled beautifully to start tilting the pressure back on the home side. It came down to nine needed from the last five balls, delivered by Ismail.
A glorious cover-driven four for Flintoff brought it down to four from three, but Ismail bowled the opener next ball, had Burns caught at short third man and then bowled Issy Wong to seal the most memorable of wins.
Phoenix batter Tess Flintoff said:
"We are pretty devastated. We were in a nice position there at the end and it would have been great to get our first win here at Edgbaston so we are pretty disappointed.
"We were just taking it ball by ball. Amy is a pretty calm person and really nice to bat with. We were ticking over nicely for a long time but then just let it get a bit close at the end. With nine needed from five balls we definitely felt in the game on a beautiful wicket out there, you just have to get it through the infield and it flies away. We were right in the game but it just wasn't to be.
"It was the first time I'd batted with Amy so that was pretty cool. She is a world class player and so calm under pressure.
"We are under a little bit of pressure now but lucky that our next game is at home as well. You want to come good at the right time and that is our motto at the moment, There are four games to go, including a couple at home, so we just need to win the next one and get on a bit of a roll."
Fire bowler Shabnim Ismail said:
"I was aiming to go yorker length and just try to bowl dot balls. The yorkers didn't really come out today but it always does damage to take wickets so it worked out well.
"I had been in that position before so it was just a case of staying calm. There were no nerves from me, as I was previously in a situation like that. I didn't want my nerves to get the better of me. I had to stay calm and I even told the captain to just stay calm. I said to her, 'we're going to win this game, don't worry - I've got this.'
"What a great experience it was to be out here today with the Welsh Fire. Our campaign is going along very nicely. I think this year we have confidence in ourselves. We have a bunch of world class players in the team so there is always someone who is able to step up and do the job for us,
"That's three game put of Wales and we have come through victorious so now we are very happy to go back to Cardiff and then go again."
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