S Poddar
An explosive 73 from fifty balls by James Vince propelled Southern Brave to a comprehensive win against Welsh Fire here at Sophia Gardens last night, the side’s third in four matches in The Hundred this season.
Vince’s knock of 71, with seven fours and three sixes, set Welsh Fire a target of 140. After winning the toss and electing to field, there was little that Welsh Fire could do but watch the Brave batsmen go out and hammer them. Alex Davies, Leus du Plooy, and Kieron Pollard gave fine supporting acts to Vince, who remained unbeaten.
Chris Jordan added a thrilling finale with a 98-metre six in the last 10 balls before he was caught by David Willey off the final ball of the innings. The standouts for the home side, Welsh Fire, were its bowlers, particularly Haris Rauf and Matt Henry, who hoped the evening conditions might aid their chase.
But there wasn’t much joy for the Welsh Fire batsmen in their innings. Luke Wells and Jonny Bairstow found it tough against opening bowlers Akeal Hossein and Craig Overton; they had only 29 in the first 30 balls. The round of bowling by The Brave was very good, with Tymal Mills 4-16, Danny Briggs 3-14, and Chris Jordan 2-19, closing the lineup of Welsh Fire to give an easy win to Southern Brave.
Reflecting back on the game, Vince praised his team’s all-around performance: “It was nice to get the win. We did find it quite tricky batting first, but our bowlers were fantastic, particularly up front. They proved it was reasonably tough out there. Akeal, Craig, CJ, and Tymal have been in great rhythm, and the batters did a good job on that pitch.”
The win saw them move to the top of the table in the men’s competition—the latest strong run for Southern Brave in The Hundred.
