Birmingham Pheonix picked up a crucial win over the Oval Invincibles in Match 23 of the Hundred Men’s 2022 at the Kennington Oval in London. The victory pushed the Birmingham Pheonix to third in the points table with four wins in six games, while Oval Invincibles are at the fifth position with three wins in six games now.
Earlier in the game, the Oval Invincibles opted to bowl first after winning the toss, and the Birmingham Pheonix suffered an early loss with the dismissal of in-form batter Will Smeed for a 13-ball 23. Miles Hammond followed him soon after, hitting two sixes in his 17-run knock while the likes of Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone stuck together a destructive partnership for the third wicket.
Ali scored a 25-ball 42 comprising of four sixes at a strike rate of 168, while Livingstone came up with a 32-ball 45 hitting as many sixes as Ali had hit. Matthew Wade’s cameo towards the end gave the finishing touches to the innings as Birmingham Phoenix got to a competitive score of 166 for 6 in their innings. With the ball, it was Matt Milnes who picked up a three-wicket haul to be the pick of the bowlers, while Sunil Narine yet again impressed with an economical spell.
Tom Curran’s blistering knock goes in vain
In reply, Will Jacks and Riley Rossouw had to walk back to the dressing room quickly while Jason Roy and Jordan Cox got a small partnership going. However, Henry Brookes got the big fish, Roy, for 21, and the chase looked bleak at 52 for 3. Sam Curran’s quickfire 20-ball 30 which included three sixes, did bring some hopes to the Oval Invincibles. However, the equation got tougher and tougher once Cox and Curran were removed in quick succession.
Tom Curran gave a real scare for the Birmingham side with three sixes and two fours in his blistering knock of 30 off just 12 balls. However, the Oval Invincibles fell short by ten runs thanks to new ball bowlers of the Birmingham side, Kane Richardson and Tom Helm, who bowled match-winning spells. Richardson got the nod for the Player of the Match for his 3 for 22 at the end.
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