Southern Brave Men v Welsh Fire Men – The Hundred
The second edition of The Hundred Men’s got underway on Wednesday (August 3) with the clash between defending champions Southern Brave and Welsh Fire at the Rose Bowl in Southampton. Brave began their title defense with a comprehensive win over Fire by nine wickets thanks to a collective effort from their bowlers.
Southern Brave skipper James Vince opted to bowl first after winning the toss and the decision was vindicated by Craig Overton off the fourth ball itself with the wicket of Joe Clarke. The bowler further scalped Ollie Pope while Matthew Hogan sent back Tom Banton, leaving Fire struggling at 16/3.
The wickets continued to fall for Welsh Fire, but Ben Duckett stood tall at one end to take the team past the 100-run mark. He scored 40 runs off 31 deliveries as they ended up at 107/7 in their 100-ball innings. Apart from Overton, Chris Jordan also picked up two wickets, ending with bowling figures of 2/16 in his 15 balls.
In response, Alex Davies and James Vince got Brave off to a brilliant start adding 72 runs for the opening wicket. The former got out on 26, but the skipper led from the front in the chase to remain unbeaten on 71 off 41 balls, including eight fours and a six.
Vince’s heroics with the bat earned him the Player of the Match award.
Marcus Stoinis, who batted at three, didn’t have much to do in the chase, remaining unbeaten on six runs off eight balls as the defending champions got over the line with 30 balls to spare and nine wickets in hand.
Southern Brave begin their title defense in style
The Hundred Men’s 2022 Points table
It was a dominating victory for the Southern Brave, thanks to a collective effort in the season opener. By virtue of this win, the defending champions are currently at the top of the points table with a net run-rate of +2.549. With the other teams yet to start their campaign, a loss has put Welsh Fire in the last position with a net run-rate of -2.549.
Brave will now enjoy a break of seven days before locking horns against Birmingham Phoenix on August 10 in their second game. On the other hand, it is relatively quick turnaround for Welsh Fire with their next game against Oval Invincibles on August 7.
