The Hundred men’s competition, Edgbaston
Birmingham Phoenix 214-4 (100 balls): Clarke 68 (33); Harrison 2-27
Trent Rockets 204-7 (100 balls): Banton 67 (32); Tariq 2-36
Birmingham Phoenix won by 10 runs
Scorecard. Table
Birmingham Phoenix and Trent Rockets ended this year’s Hundred run-drought with a high-scoring contest at Edgbaston, which the home side edged by 10 runs.
Phoenix posted 214-4 – the second-highest total in the tournament’s history behind Oval Invincibles’ 226-4 last year – and with Rockets’ reply of 204-7, it was the first time that 400 runs have been scored in a game overall.
The 29 sixes hit across both innings was also a Hundred record.
Joe Clarke and Will Smeed both scored fifties in Phoenix’s flying start as the pair added 104 from just 49 balls for the first wicket.
After Clarke fell for 68 from 33 balls and Smeed’s 51 from 28, Rehan Ahmed and Donovan Ferreira ensured the brilliant start was not in vain.
The pair smashed 63 from just 22 balls for the third wicket, as Ahmed clubbed five sixes in his 25-ball 48 while Ferreira added a valuable cameo off 22 not out from just nine deliveries.
In reply, Rockets made a positive start as openers Finn Allen and Ben Duckett added 65 in 29 balls but the chase started to drift when the pair fell for 43 and 49 respectively.
Tom Banton kept Rockets’ hopes alive with a 26-ball fifty, but seamer Scott Currie held his nerve at the death to remove him for 67 with an unlikely 29 needed off the last seven balls and Phoenix closed out the victory.
On a difficult night for bowlers, Rockets spinner Calvin Harrison’s figures of 2-27 were an outlier.
Phoenix’s innings was the sixth time that 200 has been surpassed in the tournament and sparked some much-needed life into this year’s edition after a run of relatively low scores – the previous highest total just 144.
The match also alleviated concerns about the quality of the pitch after Phoenix’s women were contrastingly bowled out for 64 earlier in the day.