The Hundred: Manchester Originals take emphatic victory over Birmingham Phoenix at Edgbaston
Birmingham Phoenix slump to lowest score in the men's Hundred so far as Manchester Originals move on up the table; Originals set score of 154 to pursue, but Phoenix are all out for 75
Monday 29 August 2022 14:01, UK
Manchester Originals defeated Birmingham Phoenix as they secured a dominant victory at Edgbaston.
The Originals left Phoenix needing to reach a target of 155 after winning the toss and choosing to bat first.
Phil Salt made the major contribution to the Manchester team's 154 for six wickets total, scoring 56 himself before being left outraged when, once he was ruled out lbw, he saw his appeal for the review deemed to have come in too late and been ineligible.
- Scorecard: Birmingham Phoenix vs Manchester Originals
- The Hundred - latest standings | The Hundred - upcoming fixtures
It made no difference to the Originals' ultimate success. They opened their bowling strongly with Tom Hartley taking the wicket of Phoenix captain Moeen Ali, who scored just four.
The Birmingham team's batting collapsed, all out for 75, the lowest score in the men's Hundred so far.
With that triumph, the Manchester Originals move into third in the table. Phoenix are fifth.
Story of the match
Originals rose to the pressure of a must-win game by totalling 154 for six and then bowling and fielding brilliantly to bowl the home side out for 75.
The defeat, in front of a bumper 21,00 crowd, denied Phoenix a win which would have virtually sealed their passage.
Both sides now have it all to play for in their final games, Phoenix are away to London Spirit on Tuesday and Originals face Oval Invincibles at home on Wednesday.
Originals chose to bat and only Phil Salt 56 (38 balls) passed 30 against an attack led by Benny Howell (three for 18) and Kane Richardson (two for 27).
They had started their innings solidly, reaching 50 from 38 balls for the loss of only Laurie Evans, who skied a slog at Richardson.
Salt charged to a 33-ball half-century much to the angst of Henry Brookes, who dropped him at short fine leg on eight and was then lifted for two sixes in three balls as the batter charged straight through the forties to his fifty.
The consistent Howell kept a brake on as Wayne Madsen, Tristan Stubbs and Paul Walter all fell flailing against the medium-pacer.
All sent up skiers before Salt's assault was ended by an lbw decision for Richardson, the batsman departing in high dudgeon after being told that his call for a review, which would have been upheld, arrived too late.
At 113 for five from 82 balls, the Originals needed a late rally and Tom Lammonby supplied it with a meaty 12-ball 26 including four fours and a six.
Phoenix's chase started badly, with two wickets in the first four balls taken by spinner Tom Hartley, and never recovered.
Hartley finished with four for 22 as the Phoenix challenge fizzled out after just 74 balls.
He struck two immediate hammer blows on the Phoenix chase. From the spinner's second ball, Miles Hammond was caught at extra cover. His fourth bowled skipper Moeen Ali through a slog sweep.
Sneed and Chris Benjamin partially rebuilt with a stand of 45 in 31 balls but both fell in the space of three balls. Benjamin was run out by Madsen's direct hit and Smeed hoisted Paul Walter to deep square leg.
Hartley returned to remove Brett D'Oliveira, caught in the deep, and bowl Ben Dwarshuis which left the Phoenix in a heap at 63 for seven, doomed to an ignominious defeat and needing to lift themselves very quickly for the vital visit to Spirit on Tuesday.
What they said...
Hero of the Match, Tom Hartley: "I just tried to use the pitch as much as I could really.
"We saw the Southern Braves do it last year, they lost the first two games. Obviously we lost the first three but we picked up good rhythm and the boys are really getting along so there's no reason why we can't [go all the way]."
Manchester Originals captain, Laurie Evans: "Huge win. They're must-win games all the way through ever since we lost three out of three. The boys made me look good there with all my bowling changes. They were outstanding. We thought we were a little bit under par maybe initially but it turned out to be a pretty competitive score so pretty chuffed.
"[On Tom Hartley] He's fantastic at doing it and it was so good to see him pick up the rewards of bowling those top overs.
"[On Phil Salt] He played fantastically well. Once again he's shown how good he is and he's been brilliant in this tournament.
"We've enjoyed ourselves throughout this tournament, we've got a great group here. This Hundred is just fantastic."
Birmingham Phoenix captain, Moeen Ali: "Obviously if you're going well you can keep going. But if you do lose early wickets [you need] to just sit in the game and hang in there almost. In their innings they ended the game [above] 150 from nowhere really, so it can happen. Just sit in a little and you never know what can happen. We've got some good players and we can win games.
"It was just one of those days when we were poor. But we've played well throughout the tournament.
"We've got to rejig one or two things and hopefully come back strong on Tuesday."
What's next?
Trent Rockets and Welsh Fire are next to meet in The Hundred in a Bank Holiday Monday double-header.
The Hundred Live
The Fire finally earned a first win in the women's competition, at the fifth time of asking against Northern Superchargers on Friday, while it is the last chance for the men to get a first win on the board in their final group game. The Rockets women will move into the top three with a victory, while the men will confirm their place in the play-offs with one.
The women are up first from 3.30pm, with the men to follow from 7pm. Both games are live on Sky Sports The Hundred and Sky Sports Mix and are also available for free via live streams on skysports.com, the Sky Sports App and the Sky Sports Cricket YouTube channel.
The Hundred Live
As for the Phoenix and Originals, their final group games are at the London Spirit and against the Oval Invincibles on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
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