It was an entertaining match eight at The Hundred 2022 yesterday as Birmingham Phoenix and Southern Brave faced each other. Birmingham Phoenix defeated Southern Brave by 53 runs. The Brave’s captain James Vince elected to field first. In a pitch that favors batting, Vince’s decision to hunt down the target went in vain as the Phoenix batters got off to a flying start. They scored 22 runs in the first fifteen balls.
Chris Benjamin got out for a quick seventeen off just twelve balls. Moeen Ali and Will Smeed carried on with their onslaught until Ali perished for seventeen runs off twelve balls. Will Smeed, on the other hand, was dealing only with boundaries. Going at almost 173 strike rate, the batter never looked like getting out. The boundaries just kept coming from the middle of Smeed’s bat. Liam Livingstone backed him up by scoring boundaries at the other end.
Will Smeed became the first batter to score a hundred in The Hundred 2022
After the 60th ball, The Phoenix was 108 for the loss of only two wickets. The wrath of the Phoenix batters never looked like settling down until Jake Lintott got rid of Liam Livingstone. But it did not stop the Phoenix opener’s onslaught as he kept smashing sixes for fun. A four and a six of Tymal Mill’s penultimate over in the innings took him into the 90s. A four and a double of Chris Jordan’s final over of the innings brought up Will Smeed’s century. He became the first batter to score a hundred in The Hundred 2022.
Moeen Ali rolled his arms over first up for the Phoenix. And the plan worsened when James Vince smacked two sixes and a boundary of the last three balls of the first over. Kane Richardson got rid of him in the very first ball of his spell. With Marcus Stoinis departing for just one run, the Brave looked in trouble. Quinton de Kock got a start but perished for just fifteen runs.
Tim David also perished for mere eleven runs while Alex Davies carried on with his anchoring at the other end. Henry Brookes deceived Alex Davies with a slower ball and ensured Phoenix was inching closer to victory. The pacer picked two more wickets within a span of four balls and picked up a five-for. Southern Brave were bowled out for 123 runs with fifteen balls to spare.
Here’s how Twitter reacted after the conclusion of match Eight of The Hundred 2022:
Henry Brookes took the the first five-wicket haul of the season in The Hundred against Southern Brave.#HenryBrookes #Fifer #BirminghamPhoenix #SouthernBrave #TheHudnred #TheHundred2022 #SKY247 #Socialmedia pic.twitter.com/kXHD8lAjNo
— Sky247 (@officialsky247) August 11, 2022
@Willsmeed3 what a 💯 in @thehundreds #BirminghamPhoenix #TheHundred2022
— AADIL NAFEES (@AadiLECE) August 11, 2022
'Smeed the speed' smashed it tonight!💥 First 💯 in The 💯!! #smeed #TheHundred2022 #TheHundred #cricket
— Lee (@lee_blog) August 10, 2022
Birmingham Phoenix completely outplayed the defending champions Southern Brave 🙌
A revenge from last year's final#TheHundred2022 #Birmingham #SouthernBrave— Jayesh Kumar.S (@jayeshsam) August 10, 2022
The future is orange 🍊
A century for a 20-year-old and now a five-for for a 22-year-old – England's white-ball production line is still working well 👏#TheHundred2022 pic.twitter.com/vNbZstDLiO
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) August 10, 2022
Phoenix 𝗪𝗜𝗡! 🧡
Birmingham Phoenix men still undefeated at #FortressEdgbaston.#Edgbaston | #TheHundred pic.twitter.com/dVTLG4xKtg
— Edgbaston (@Edgbaston) August 10, 2022
Win!!! for Birmingham Phoenix what a brilliant game at the beautiful @Edgbaston great performances by the players #RiseUp #TheHundred
— Birmingham Phoenix (@Phoenixbham100) August 10, 2022
2 very impressive young talents in the form of Will Smeed and Henry Brookes putting up a show for the Birmingham Phoenix tonight 👏🏼
— Sophia Kessner (@sophiakessner) August 10, 2022
176 for 4 is also the 3rd highest total in the history of Men's Hundred. Birmingham Phoenix got their name three times in the top 5 list.
A team full of beasts
— Kaushik (@CricKaushik_) August 10, 2022
First win in the @thehundred this year for the Birmingham Phoenix let's go oooooo 🥳🥳🥳🏏 #TheHundred #BirminghamPhoenix
— 🦁AVFC Pearson🦁 (@AvfcPearson) August 10, 2022
