Top-order blitz helps Phoenix end Rockets' winning run

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Jan 23, 2020
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Dawid Malan's fifty went in vain © Getty
An explosive show from Birmingham Phoenix's top four overshadowed Dawid Malan's well-paced half-century as Trent Rockets' winning run in The Hundred came to an end at Edgbaston on Sunday (August 1). "I think it's bang on par. It's mostly a 140-145 kind of a wicket," Alex Hales had said during the innings break after Rockets posted 144/6, riding on Malan's 41-ball 51 along with useful contributions from the out-of-favour England opener and Samit Patel. But Phoenix needed only 74 deliveries to get to the target, with Finn Allen and Will Smeed setting up a dash of a chase.

As many as 60 runs came in the first 25 deliveries of the second innings, despite the last four deliveries of the powerplay being all dots and also the wicket of Smeed. But what transpired before that was carnage as Allen and Smeed sent the bowlers on a leather hunt. While Allen picked up two fours off Luke Wood in the first five balls, Smeed got into the act with a six and a four off Patel. Matthew Carter too was taken for runs by Allen while two sixes and two fours off Timm van der Gugten helped Phoenix past 50 within the first 20 deliveries. Although Smeed departed when he found the fielder at deep midwicket, his 36 off only 13 helped bring up the highest powerplay score of The Hundred and also gave a superb platform for the chase.

The boundaries continued despite the wicket of Smeed as Moeen Ali and Allen put on a 44-run stand that came off only 28 deliveries to take Phoenix closer. Patel felt the brunt of Moeen's attack as he was struck for two sixes and a four on the trot, as Phoenix got past 100 off the 49th delivery. Moeen fell to Patel when he attempted a slog-sweep, finding the fielder at long-on, while Rashid Khan castled Allen with a googly, with the opener failing in his attempt to play a reverse-sweep to depart for 43 off 23. But that didn't give Rockets any respite as Liam Livingstone and Chris Benjamin provided the finishing touches to the chase. Livingstone's sixes off D'Arcy Short and Benjamin's two fours off Rashid all but sealed the deal for Phoenix, who won with 26 deliveries to spare to rise to third in style after two successive losses previously.

Earlier, put in to bat, it didn't take long for Rockets to get going as Hales struck three fours and a six off the five deliveries Tom Helm bowled at him. Adam Milne kept it tidy at the other end, conceding only six runs from his first 10 deliveries while he also dismissed D'Arcy Short for a duck. But regular boundaries from Hales meant that Rockets managed 41 in the powerplay. But Phoenix fought back well in the next 25 deliveries, which yielded only 20 runs with Hales being caught at mid-off off Moeen's bowling. Benny Howell, who started by conceding only four off his first five balls, bowled 10 deliveries on the trot and gave away only 12 runs. During this period Malan scored the first four in 23 balls, having earlier struck a six off Imran Tahir.

When the 60th ball was bowled, Malan had scored his 26 at a run a ball while Patel had managed only 6 off 9, with Rockets having a total of 73/2. That they added 73 more of the next 40 balls was due to Patel's driving some momentum to the innings with scoring a six and a four off Moeen, followed by a maximum off Pat Brown. Rockets crossed 100 off the 72nd delivery with Malan scoring a boundary off Tahir while Patel also scored a four off the legspinner before falling to Howell. The onus was on Malan to provide a flourishing finish to the innings, and he went about the task with a six off Tom Helm that helped him register a 39-ball fifty. Milne was the cause for Phoenix's rise again as he dismissed both Malan and Rashid Khan to finish with 2-13 from his 20 balls. But Brown conceded a couple of sixes in the end, which allowed the hosts to post some extra runs on the board, although it wasn't sufficient in the end.

Brief scores: Trent Rockets 144/6 in 100 balls (Dawid Malan 51, Alex Hales 38; Adam Milne 2-13) lost to Birmingham Phoenix 145/4 in 74 balls (Finn Allen 43, Will Smeed 36; Rashid Khan 3-26) by 6 wickets.